The UK State Pension age will have to rise to 71 , says a new report into the impact of longer life expectancy on retirement finance.

The DWP pension age of 66 is set to rise to 67 between May 2026 and March 2028. From those retiring from 2044, it is expected to rise to 68.

But new research suggests that workers born after April 1970 may have to work until they are at least 71 before claiming their state pension.

This could be even higher, if workers keep retiring before they reach state pension age, missing out on valuable time with grandchildren and ruining retirement plans.

Les Mayhew, associate head of global research at the International Longevity Centre and author of the report State Pension Age and Demographic Change, said: “In the UK, state pension age would need to be 70 or 71 compared with 66 now, to maintain the status quo of the number of workers per state pensioner. “But if you bring preventable ill health into the equation, that would have to increase even more."

The number of people at state pension age is projected to rise by 1.7 million between mid-2022 and mid-2032, up from an estimated 12.0 million to 13.7 million people.

This projection accounts for the planned increases in state pension age to 67 for both sexes.

Meanwhile, by mid-2032 more than one in 10 (10.3%) of the UK population are projected to be aged 75 and over, compared with about one in 11 (9.1%) in mid-2022.

Scottish Widows’ 20th annual retirement report last year found that younger generations would like to retire even earlier.

People aged 18 to 29 want to retire at 61 typically, and would be prepared to work until 64 on average if necessary – although this would still leave a gap before they reach state pension age.

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Across all age groups, more than a quarter (27%) of those who have made retirement plans do not feel that they would ever be able to afford to do it.

Pete Glancy, head of pensions policy at Scottish Widows, said: “The growing gap in retirement outcomes and people’s quality of later life, between those who are currently retired and those who will retire in the future, is of great concern.

“It is likely to be a long time before Britain has been saving enough to give future pensioners the outcomes they hope for.”