The UK state pension age is set to rise to reflect the fact people are living and working for longer.
The age at which you can start taking your UK state pension is currently 66 but from April 2026 it will start increasing gradually, reaching 67 two years later. We explain how changes to the state pension age will be phased in.
In this article, we outline:
Find out the maximum state pension amount
What is the state pension?
Depending on your national insurance contributions, when you reach a certain age, you will be able to claim money from a big government pot funded by taxpayers. This is the state pension.
Pensioners receive these payments in regular instalments, usually paid every four weeks.
The state pension probably won’t be enough for you to live on comfortably in retirement, so it might be a good idea to build a personal pension to supplement it.
How much is the state pension?
The amount of state pension you will be entitled to will depend on your national insurance contributions.
You will need to have ten qualifying years on your record to get any state pension. You need at least 35 full years of NICs to get the maximum amount of new state pension, currently £185.15 a week.
Find out if you are on the right track using the government’s state pension forecast. We also explain the maximum amount you will get in state pension income in our guide.
The state pension payment also goes up in April each year in line with something known as the triple lock guarantee. We explain how the state pension triple lock works.
What is the state pension age and will it go up?
The state pension age is currently 66. This means you can claim your state pension money from the government on your 66th birthday.
But 66 has not always been the magic number, and the pension age won’t remain at 66 forever either.
Here’s how it has changed over the years:
- When the system as we know it now was introduced in the 1940s, the state pension age was 65 for men and 60 for women.
- It remained that way for decades until 2010, when the women’s state pension age started going up to bring it into line with men. By 2018, both men and women had a state pension age of 65.
- In 2018, the state pension age for men and women started increasing at the same pace – gradually, depending on the year and month of a person’s birth. For example, if you were born on 1 September 1954, your state pension age would have been 65 years, ten months and five days (you would have reached this in July 2020).
- By 6 October 2020, the state pension age reached 66.
But that’s not the end of the changes to the state pension age. It will continue to rise:
- Between May 2026 and March 2028, the age at which you can claim the state pension will increase to 67. This affects people born after April 1960 (see the table below to see how it will be phased in)
- Between 2037 and 2039, the age will increase further to 68. This affects people born after April 1977.
Enter your date of birth into the government state pension age calculator to find out when you will reach state pension age.
Increase in state pension age from 66 to 67
In the table below we outline the timeline for the next phase of the state pension age changes.
| Date of birth | State pension age | Date state pension age reached |
|---|---|---|
| 6 April 1960 – 5 May 1960 | 66 years and 1 month | 6 May 2026 – 5 June 2026 |
| 6 May 1960 – 5 June 1960 | 66 years and 2 months | 6 July 2026 – 5 August 2026 |
| 6 June 1960 – 5 July 1960 | 66 years and 3 months | 6 Sept 2026 – 5 Oct 2026 |
| 6 July 1960 – 5 August 1960 | 66 years and 4 months | 6 Nov 2026 – 5 Dec 2026 |
| 6 August 1960 – 5 Sept 1960 | 66 years and 5 months | 6 Jan 2027 – 5 Feb 2027 |
| 6 Sept 1960 – 5 Oct 1960 | 66 years and 6 months | 6 March 2027 – 5 April 2027 |
| 6 Oct 1960 – 5 Nov 1960 | 66 years and 7 months | 6 May 2027 – 5 June 2027 |
| 6 Nov 1960 – 5 Dec 1960 | 66 years and 8 months | 6 July 2027 – 5 August 2027 |
| 6 Dec 1960 – 5 Jan 1961 | 66 years and 9 months | 6 Sept 2027 – 5 Oct 2027 |
| 6 Jan 1961 – 5 Feb 1961 | 66 years and 10 months | 6 Nov 2027 – 5 December 2027 |
| 6 Feb 1961 – 5 March 1961 | 66 years and 11 months | 6 Jan 2028 – 5 Feb 2028 |
| 6 March 1961 – 1970* | 67 | 6 March 2028 – 2037* |
Why does the state pension age rise?
The state pension age is reviewed every six years to take into account factors such as changes in the way we work and the types of jobs people have.
How long we will live is also a big factor. Over the past 40 years, life expectancy in the UK has gone up because of improvements in healthcare and working conditions.
According to the Office for National Statistics, average life expectancy reached 79 years for men and nearly 83 years for women between 2018 and 2020.
Compare that to 1980 to 1982, when these figures were almost 71 years for men and 77 for women.
The UK also has an ageing population, meaning that, proportionately, a smaller number of younger, working-age people are funding a growing number of older people through their taxes.
In the current tax year the state pension is expected to cost around £110 billion. The number of people claiming it has more than doubled to 12.5 million at the start of 2022 from 5.9 million in 1962.
As the number of people over state pension age goes up, one way the government can manage the cost to taxpayers is by increasing the age at which people can claim the money.
But the government has to try and strike a balance: trying to make sure most people will live long enough to claim a state pension, while also making it fair on taxpayers.
State pension forecast
Back in 2007 the state pension age was scheduled to increase to 68 between 2044 and 2046. However, a government review in 2017 brought these dates forward by seven years.
This means that the state pension age will now increase to 68 between 2037 and 2039. This is expected to save the government about £74 billion.
But this schedule could be brought forward again.
In December last year, the work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said the state pension age might have to rise even quicker than planned because of the huge burden on the public finances.
Another review of the state pension age is set to be published in May this year and it could reach 68 as early as 2033.
Increasing the state pension age just one year earlier than planned would save the government almost £10 billion, according to analysis by LCP, a pensions consultancy.
To get an idea of when you will reach state pension age, enter your date of birth into the government calculator.
Find out about the state pension increase 2023.
