{"id":593500,"date":"2026-05-20T01:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T01:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/593500\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T01:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T01:08:07","slug":"scrapping-triple-lock-could-save-38bn-a-year-by-2045","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/593500\/","title":{"rendered":"Scrapping triple lock could save \u00a338bn a year by 2045"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scrapping the state pension triple lock would cut \u00a338bn from Britain\u2019s state pension bill by 2045, a think tank has claimed.<\/p>\n

The state pension triple lock<\/a> \u2013 which boosts pensioners\u2019 payments by the highest rate of inflation, wage growth or 2.5pc each year \u2013 was introduced in 2011 to guard against retirement poverty.<\/p>\n

However, the Intergenerational Foundation (IF) said the mechanism had become unsustainable, unpredictable and unfair to future taxpayers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Britain is expected to spend \u00a3154bn on the state pension this year, rising to \u00a3180bn by 2030. The triple lock is expected to cost \u00a315.5bn a year by 2030, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.<\/p>\n

In a new report, the IF proposed only increasing the state pension by inflation until 2030-31 and by the average of inflation and earnings in following years.<\/p>\n

It calculated that the changes would save \u00a319bn a year by 2035-36 and \u00a338bn a year by 2045-46.<\/p>\n

The IF also argued that 10pc of the savings should be handed back to the poorest pensioners.<\/p>\n

Currently, people receiving Pension Credit<\/a> have their weekly income topped up by up to \u00a3238 if they\u2019re single or \u00a3363.25 jointly if they have a partner.<\/p>\n

However, the IF said they should be awarded a non-means-tested payment of \u00a330 a week, which would also rise each year by the average of inflation and earnings.<\/p>\n

Conor Nakkan, the report\u2019s author, said the current system was \u201cfiscally unsustainable\u201d and needed reform.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThe triple lock may have been introduced with good intentions but it has become an expensive and poorly targeted policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt now delivers large increases to all pensioners, including millions who are already well-off, while younger generations face stagnant living standards, high housing costs and a growing tax burden.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current system<\/a> is not only fiscally unsustainable, it is also intergenerationally unfair. If the Government wants to protect pensioners from hardship, it should do so directly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sally Tsoukaris, of the pensioner campaign group Later Life Ambitions, said that both measures would leave the poorest pensioners exposed.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cThe triple lock is a vital safeguard against pensioner poverty. Older people need security and dignity in retirement, not renewed uncertainty about the value of their state pension.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsing some of the savings to increase Pension Credit also does not solve the problem. It is means-tested, chronically under-claimed and by the Government\u2019s own figures, close to a million eligible pensioners are already missing out.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsking it to carry more of the system would leave too many of the poorest older people exposed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scrapping the state pension triple lock would cut \u00a338bn from Britain\u2019s state pension bill by 2045, a think…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,202990,4176,118596,4178,4174,4175,4204,5438,2221,474,56,1893,54,55],"class_list":["post-593500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-department-for-work-amp-pensions","tag-finance","tag-financial-planning-for-retirement","tag-pensions","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-retirement","tag-standard","tag-state-pension","tag-tax","tag-uk","tag-uk-economy","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}