A petition has been launched online calling on the UK Government to grant early access to State Pensions for older people on disability benefits. Currently, the State Pension age stands at 66 for both men and women and is scheduled to increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
The proposal, put forward by George Bolgar, suggests that people over 60 with disabilities who have been unemployed for a minimum of five years should be given the option to retire and claim their State Pension immediately.
The petition to 'allow elderly disabled people to claim the State Pension early' has been posted on the Petitions Parliament website. If it receives 10,000 signatures, it would be entitled to a written response from the UK Government.
If it reaches 100,000 signatures, it would be considered by the Petitions Committee for debate in Parliament. According to the Record, the petition states: "We think that any disabled person aged 60 who has been unemployed for at least five years should be given the choice to retire and claim the State Pension immediately.
"We think that keeping people on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) unemployment list when there is no chance of them ever becoming employed again is extra work for the DWP and extra stress for the disabled person.
"We think that once someone is above 60 years old and unemployed their likelihood of being employable is extremely reduced." To view the full petition, please click here.
Your State Pension age is the earliest age at which you can begin receiving your State Pension. It might differ from the age at which you can receive a workplace or personal pension.
The online tool at GOV.UK allows anyone of any age to check their State Pension age, which can be crucial for retirement planning.
You can use the State Pension age tool to check:
Check your State Pension age online here.
