There is something quietly seismic about a change that does not arrive with a bang but a birthday. From this week, the state pension age begins its steady climb from 66 to 67; a shift long planned and heavily trailed, yet still capable of unnerving those who find the finish line moving just as it comes into view.

Ostensibly, it’s a rational adjustment: people live longer, therefore the state pays out for longer. Something has to give. The arithmetic is compelling enough: raising the pension age helps save billions in a system under demographic strain. However, arithmetic is not lived experience and the reality for those in their mid-sixties is far messier.

What this change exposes is the gap between policy and people. For a minority, the answer is simple: work a little longer, retire a little........

© iNews