Pension age rise 'every five years'

Legislation being considered by the Government could result in the retirement age being pushed up every five years, it has been reported.

The age at which pensions are paid out could rise automatically as a result of greater life expectancy, The Times said.

The Government does not want to "revisit this issue year by year" according to a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) 'insider' quoted in the newspaper.

A DWP spokesman has called the report "speculation".

The comments came after controversial plans to extend the pension age were unveiled by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.

They included the possibility of people having to work until they are 70 before receiving their benefit.

Ministers have been accused by unions of making people "work until they drop" as well as attacking the poorest members of society.

Mr Duncan Smith said: "We need to recognise that to meet the challenge of providing an affordable, stable pensions system in a society with ever increasing life expectancy, people will need to work longer."

The state pension age for men is set to rise from 65 to 66 from 2016 - nearly a decade earlier than the last government was planning, while ministers also raised the possibility of extending the pension age to 70 and even older in the following decades to "reinvigorate retirement".

Copyright Press Association 2010