Britons will have to wait longer to receive a state pension under a government plan that will see future increases in pension age linked to fast-rising life expectancy.
George Osborne, chancellor, had made an automatic review of the state pension age in line with longevity the price of his support for a move to a new, flat-rate pension intended to reduce reliance on means-tested benefits and help the lower paid.
The plan is designed to ease the burden on the exchequer of supporting growing numbers of elderly people, but it will turn a spotlight on politically sensitive differences in the number of years people can expect to live in good health.