Blunkett says retirement age of 67 could solve pensions crisis

The retirement age for people aged 40 or younger could be raised to 67 to tackle the pensions crisis, the Work and Pensions Secretary indicated yesterday.

David Blunkett, who has been visiting the US and Canada to examine options for pension and benefit reforms, said working longer would be one of the main ways of averting poverty in retirement.

Blunkett told BBC TV’s Politics Show that the US was committed to raising the retirement age to 67 over the next 20 years.

“That is the kind of debate we’ll be having,” he said.

Sue Regan, Blunkett’s pensions adviser, has already called for the state retirement age to be raised to 67 by 2030 in a report for the Institute of Public Policy Research.

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The move would anger unions, already protesting about proposals to change retirement age for public sector workers to 65.

But a spokesman for Blunkett stressed that it would be for the commission on pensions, headed by Adair Turner, to recommend changes when it reports in November.