What was claimed
The Labour government is to raise the state pension age to 74.
Our verdict
False. The government has not announced any plans for the state pension age to be increased to 74. The state pension age is currently set to increase to 68 by 2046, but this was legislated for more than a decade ago.
Multiple posts on Facebook claim the government has raised or is set to raise the state pension age to 74, but this is not the case.
The current state pension age is 66. It is set to increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028, and again to 68 between 2044 and 2046.
These increases were legislated for in 2014 and 2007 respectively. The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed that no decisions on further changes to the state pension age have been made by the current Labour government.
Could the state pension age increase further?
The Pensions Act 2014 requires the government to review the state pension age at least every six years. The first review concluded in 2017 and the second in 2023.
While the 2023 review did suggest the increase to 68 should be brought forward to 2041–43, the then-Conservative government opted not to adopt this recommendation.
The latest review was announced in July 2025 and will examine whether the existing rules and the age at which a pension may be taken are appropriate, based on a range of data, including the latest life expectancy predictions. A final report is due in 2027.
At present, the amount of state pension entitlement is determined by the “triple lock”—a government commitment to apply an annual increase by the highest of wage growth, inflation, or 2.5%. Concerns have been raised about the long-term affordability of the triple lock.
A report published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shortly before the announcement of the new pension review pointed to government modelling, which found that in order to retain the triple lock and keep the cost of the state pension to below 6% of national income, the state pension age would have to rise to 69 by 2048–49 and 74 by 2068–69.
However, while some experts have said they expect the state pension age to increase at a faster rate in years to come, the government has currently not legislated or formally proposed a rise to 74 at this time. Social media posts which suggest this is the case are therefore misleading.
It’s also worth noting that both previous reviews have recommended that at least 10 years’ notice should be given of any changes to the state pension age.
False or misleading claims online have the potential to harm individuals, groups and democratic processes and institutions. Online claims can spread fast and far, and are difficult to contain and correct.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because the government has announced a review of the state pension age but has not proposed any increases beyond those already set out by previous governments.
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