News story

20th September 2002

Fixed Retirement Age Old Fashioned

Commenting on the report released by the Pensions Policy Institute which recommends raising the state age of retirement to 70, Steve Webb MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary; said

“Raising the pensions age to 70 is a distraction from the real problem – the rigidity and discrimination which older workers face today.

“Instead of forcing people to work longer, Government should be about giving older workers new choices and new options.

“We should not use compulsion against competent workers, whatever their age, if they wish to work.

“The Government must remove the discrimination in the state retirement system. Imaginative solutions, such as part-work-part-pension, driven by choice not compulsion must be investigated in place of the current rigid state retirement system.”

ENDS