The Department for Work and Pensions has said it is writing to people about the phased increase in state pension age with a simple online check to see if you’re impacted
The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed it has been contacting individuals regarding a significant change to the state pension age. The DWP outlined its strategy today in a bid to prevent a repeat of the controversy that affected people when women’s pension age was altered in 2005.
The process has already commenced this year – with a gradual shift from 66 to 67 underway. The current state pension age stands at 66 but will rise incrementally over the coming two years until reaching 67.
Those first affected will be individuals born between 6 April and 5 May 1960, who will have to wait an additional month before receiving their pension payments.
WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) is a UK campaign group advocating for compensation for millions of women born in the 1950s. They contend that the government failed to adequately inform people about changes to the state pension age, which was raised from 60 to 66 to match men’s, leaving them facing unexpected financial difficulties.
In a new publication today (25 June) the DWP outlined what it was doing to inform people about the changes. It said: “The Government accepted that maladministration in decision-making between August 2005 and December 2007 resulted in a 28-month delay in beginning to send individual letters to 1950s-born women about the changes in State Pension age. The Government apologised that DWP did not send individual letters earlier in this case.”
The DWP has outlined several measures it is implementing to inform people about the change.
1 – Running communication campaigns to encourage people to use its ‘check your pension age’ tool. This tells people when they’ll reach pension age, qualify for pensions credit and be eligible for free bus travel. To use the tool click here.
2 – Writing to those affected. The document said: “DWP has written to individuals to raise awareness of their State Pension age and promote resources available on GOV.UK. Recently (from June 2025), DWP began to send letters to those people who have a State Pension age of 67, telling them the earliest point they will be eligible to claim their State Pension and encouraging them to visit the ‘Check your State Pension forecast’.”
The DWP said it is working to monitor and understand whether people realise their pension age may have changed. It said: “DWP regularly assesses evidence relevant to State Pension age awareness from both our own research and that undertaken by external organisations. We commission new research that measures State Pension age awareness in order to maintain an up-to-date evidence base, and take opportunities to investigate related topics and comparisons between cohorts.”
Earlier this month, at the Work and Pensions committee, a crucial element of the justification for the age change was called into question — life expectancy.
Committee chair Debbie Abrahams argued that the change was being made on the basis of increased life expectancy, yet new data revealed it was actually declining in certain areas.
She said: “The Health Foundation has shown that healthy life expectancy has fallen by two years on average, and it will be worse in constituencies such as mine and yours, Secretary of State. The first Pensions Commission pegged the increase in state pension age to life expectancy.
“Life expectancy has now increased overall-again, not in areas such as ours-but healthy life expectancy has declined. Are you considering using healthy life expectancy as well as life expectancy as a marker for what you should do about increasing the state pension age?” Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said: “We should consider all these factors. I am conscious of and stand by what I just said to Mr Egan about how the same age can feel different and be experienced differently by people in different parts of the country. I am not trying to duck the question when I say this, but these are difficult decisions. You have to take into account affordability for the country, because even though it is a contributory system, it really works as a pay-as-you-go system. It has to be affordable and give people security in retirement, but it has to take into account the factors that you raise as well. We owe that to the public. It is a very delicate decision, which is why we do these careful reviews to take all these things into account.”
The UK Government has also modified when the State Pension age increase takes effect, meaning that rather than reaching State Pension age on a specific date, individuals born between 6 March 1961 and 5 April 1977 will become entitled to claim their State Pension when they turn 67. It is crucial that people understand these upcoming changes, particularly those who have already made retirement plans.
From April 2026, the Government began a phased rise in State Pension age from 66 to 67, to be completed within two years. When the pension age previously rose from 65 to 66, it forced an extra 100,000 65-year-olds into absolute income poverty compared to the period before the adjustment.
Date of birth – Date State Pension age reached.
6 April 1960 – 5 May 1960 66 years and 1 month.
6 May 1960 – 5 June 1960 66 years and 2 months.
6 June 1960 – 5 July 1960 66 years and 3 months.
6 July 1960 – 5 August 1960 66 years and 4 months.
6 August 1960 – 5 September 1960 66 years and 5 months.
6 September 1960 – 5 October 1960 66 years and 6 months.
6 October 1960 – 5 November 1960 66 years and 7 months.
6 November 1960 – 5 December 1960 66 years and 8 months.
6 December 1960 – 5 January 1961 66 years and 9 months.
6 January 1961 – 5 February 1961 66 years and 10 months.
6 February 1961 – 5 March 1961 66 years and 11 months.
6 March 1961 – 5 April 1977 67.
To read the complete DWP document Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) action plan: How DWP will learn lessons following the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s (PHSO) investigation into communications around women’s State Pension age click here.
