Women Pushed into Pension Poverty by Government

Raising the State Pension age for women to 63 has left 1.1 million women worse off, a new study from the Institute of Fiscal Studies has revealed. From 2010 to 2016 the State Pension age for women was raised from 60 to 63. This resulted in a boost to the public purse – but left households £74 a week less off, a significant sum in retirement.

Government finances have benefited by £5.1 billion a year from the move the IFS revealed, thanks to the cash saved in fewer State Pension and other benefit handouts – and the extra income taxes generated by women having to work for longer as a result of the measures.

“The falls in household incomes caused by the reform have pushed income poverty among 60 to 62 year old women up sharply to 21.2%, compared to a pre-reform poverty rate among women of this age of 14.8%,” the report reads.