The eligibility age for women was raised in stages until 2020, when it became equal. The pension age has since risen further still, and is due to reach 68 for both sexes by the 2040s.
It raises the deeper question about whether men and women should be retiring at the same age at all.
The disparity in men and women’s ages for qualifying for a state pension had long been in place, partly because it was assumed that women, as the physically weaker sex, would be less capable of working in their 60s.
Another push was the need to raise the pension age across the board. The government noted people of both sexes were living longer, and a common pension age of 65 would strike a ‘fair balance between generations’.
The age when women can get the state pension has been rising (Photo: andresr/Getty)
The average UK life expectancy at birth is currently about 83 for women and 79 for men. “Men used to say [women’s earlier pension age] was unfair and men were discriminated against,” said Baroness Ros Altmann, a Conservative peer and a former pensions minister.
But this now seems unlikely to be the main explanation, because in many mammal species, females also live longer, suggesting something is going on at the level of basic biology.
The science
In mammals, sex is governed by our chromosomes, bundles of DNA inside our cells. Females have two X chromosomes, while males have one X and one Y.
In female embryos, one of the Xs – selected at random in each cell – is switched off in early pregnancy. In every organ of a woman’s body – for example, the liver or kidneys – half of the cells use the X she inherited from her mother and the father’s Y is switched off. While the other half of the cells use the father’s X and the mother’s X is switched off.
“In your kidneys, maybe it’s the X from your mother that’s better at giving you long-term kidney function, but in your liver, it’s the X from your dad,” said Dr Sharon Moalem, a geneticist at the US National Institutes of Health. “Every organ is going to be able to choose predominantly one over the other, or to keep both of them active.”
The fact that women die on average four years later than men doesn’t mean they necessarily stay healthier for longer, though. In fact, there is little difference between the sexes here: both women and men in England can expect to stay in good health until they are 62.5 years, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Read Next
square MONEY Women are still getting less pension than men - and will be for another 25 years
Read More
But while men and women seem very similar in their health status at older ages, women do tend to be worse off financially, which could suggest they deserve their state pension earlier.
“They might have gaps in employment, they might have had to go part time, they might have had to stop working earlier to look after a parent,” said Morgan Vine, director of policy and influencing at Independent Age, a charity that campaigns against older people’s poverty.
But Altmann does not seek a return to having different state pension ages – as it would seem so unfair to men.
The rules should be the same for both sexes, but there should be some way to let both men and women access their state pension earlier if, for instance, they are terminally ill or completely unable to work, she said. “But I can’t think of any justification in modern society that says women should get it before men.”
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Why women and men should retire at the same age, according to science )
Also on site :