POLL: Should the state pension age be reduced to 60?

POLL

The petition urges the DWP to drop the state pension age (Image: Getty)

A parliamentary petition has been launched to slash the state pension age to 60. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is also being called to increase state pension payments to £586 a week, totalling an annual income of £30,476 for pensioners.

The campaign has been launched by Denver Johnson on the official Parliament website. It currently has around 6,700 signatures and calls for the Government to make the state pension available from the age of 60.

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As well as dropping the state pension age and aligning payments with National Living Wage calculations, the campaign is calling for British pensioners living abroad to be guaranteed annual payment increases. It would establish weekly payments of £568.08 for all pensioners aged 60 and above.

The petition reads: "We want the Government to make the State Pension available from the age of 60 & increase this to equal 48hrs a week at the National Living Wage."

Once the official petition hits 10,000 signatures, the government will respond to it. Then, once it hits 100,000, the petition will be considered for debate in Parliament.

The state pension age is currently 66 and is scheduled to increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028. The government reviewed the state pension age in 2023 but there are currently no official plans to drop it to 60.

The petition also wants the DWP to increase state pension payments (Image: Getty)

Meanwhile, the current full state pension amount is £230.25 per week. This amount applies to people who reached state pension age on or after April 6, 2016.

However, some financial experts have expressed concerns about the proposal. One said it comes with "many potential issues".

Karen Barrett, founder and chief executive of Unbiased, stated: "A new petition calling to reduce the age to access the state pension to 60 and boosting it in line with the National Living Wage sounds like a dream, but comes with many potential issues."