CHILDREN born now will have to work until they are 77 before they get their state pension, a new report has claimed.
And, if that was not bad enough, their children will be working into their mid-80s, according to projections by accountants PwC.
Campaigners have now called for better opportunities for people to continue to work as they get older and also to ensure those from poorest backgrounds are properly supported.
There are already plans to raise the state pension age to 67 by 2028. It is predicted to rise again by 2031, meaning someone who is aged 48 today will have to work until they are 68.
People who are currently in their late 30s can expect to wait until they are 70 to receive a state pension.
PwC's projections are based on the rate the state pension age has been accelerating and on analysis of life expectancies in the future.
Alison Fleming, head of pensions at PwC in Scotland, said: "The era of retiring in your 60s is facing extinction with many people born today facing a future of work from 17 through to 77.
"People may want to stop working sooner but the challenge will be whether they can afford to bridge the gap until the start of their state pension.
"The rising state pension age is putting even more pressure on people to save and, as a result, even those in their 40s and 50s may want to start revising their pension plans now – particularly if their state pension age might shift by a couple of years.
"This gradual rise is also raising big questions for employers. It is not just the impact an ageing workforce will have on opportunities for younger employees but how can they adapt their organisation models and working practices and what changes do they need to make now to the benefits they offer their employees?
"This isn't something that can be pushed under the carpet – the state pension age is increasing steadily and firms need to start planning and adapting now."
A spokesman for Age Scotland said: "As life expectancy increases it is reasonable to consider raising the state pension age and to plan for longer working lives.
"However, average life expectancy must not be the only factor that is considered, as the huge disparities in healthy life expectancy across the country mean the poorest socio-economic groups will be required to sacrifice proportionately more of their retirement.
"It is also essential that if people have to wait longer for their state pension they have opportunities to continue working or receive adequate support if they are unable to work due to ill health, disability or caring responsibilities."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article