Dr Suzy Morrissey, deputy director of the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI), will lead the government’s latest statutory review of the UK state pension age.
The announcement was made alongside the launch of the revived Pensions Commission today (21 July).
Morrissey will “report on factors government should consider” relating to the state pension age, the Department for Work and Pensions said in a statement.
Alongside her work, the Government Actuary’s Department will produce a report on the proportion of adult life spent in retirement.
The state pension age is currently 66, and is due to rise to 67 by 2028. It will then rise again to 68 between 2044 and 2046.
Research from the International Longevity Centre, published in February last year, stated that the state pension age would have to rise to 71 by 2050 in order to maintain its affordability.
The Office for National Statistics reported in 2019 that, by 2050, “one in four people in the UK will be aged 65 years or over”.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies published a report in December 2023 warning that the UK’s ageing population was putting “upwards pressure on both state pension spending and… public spending on health and social care”.
A 2022 forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility estimated that the overall cost of providing the state pension – under current plans relating to raising the state pension age – would increase from 4.8% of UK gross domestic product in 2021-22 to 8.1% in 2071-72.
Morrissey joined the PPI last year, and has held several senior roles in policy and research in Australia and New Zealand, including working on New Zealand’s retirement commission.
