§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes he has made to his policy on the age of retirement since 1998. [68076]
§ Mr. McCartneyWe have made no change in the policy on state pension age since 1998. Legislation was introduced in 1995 to equalise state pension age for men and women. Women's state pension age will be increased gradually from 60 to 65 between the years 2010 and 2020.
But we are looking at the factors that help determine the age at which people actually retire. Too many people experience a cliff edge between work and retirement. We need to be able to provide real opportunities and incentives to enable people to stay in the work place for longer—where they want to. We also need to tackle the perverse incentives to retire even when it might suit people to carry on working, perhaps part-time, for longer. We are looking at options for providing people with greater flexibility about when they retire.