THE younger generation will be worse off under state pension reforms, a report has warned.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found women approaching retirement and the self-employed would be the major winners from the introduction of a single-tier state pension from 2016.

But for those born after the mid-1980s, the reforms spelled a less generous state pension income for almost everyone apart from the long-term self-employed. The existing two-part state pension system will be replaced by a new simplified state pension to be set at around £146 a week, which researchers said would restore the same level of generosity relative to average earnings in the early 1970s.

The biggest gainers will be those who have spent long periods out of work or doing low-paid work, and the long-term self-employed.

Women will typically gain £5.23 per week, compared to £1.62 for men. Those with more than 10 years in self-employment will gain £7.51 per week on average, compared to £2.19 among those who have never worked for themselves.

But, for the next generation, the reforms represent a reduction in income.

The report says someone who was born in 1986, who spends 35 years as a low earner, would receive nearly £1000 per year less under the proposed new system than under the current one. This could be nearly £2300 per year for a high earner of the same age.

Co-author, Soumaya Keynes, said: "The single-tier pension will boost the state pension entitlements of some of those who are close to state pension age, or the long-term self-employed.

"But, for most in their 20s and 30s, despite making it easier to predict how much they will get, the reforms will reduce their state pension income.

"They will need to save more privately for their retirement."