LONDON, May 22 (UPI) -- A proposal from Britain's Pensions Commission would bar college graduates from receiving state pensions until they are 70-years-old.
However, Adair Turner, head of the government's Pensions Commission, told the Times of London that lower-paid workers would still be allowed to retire on a full pension at 65 under the plan.
Turner said the changes may be needed as the government faces the problem of an aging population, and the country's professionals have been found to live an average of five years longer than lower social groups after retirement.
The commission head said the state retirement age should be amended to reflect the differences in life expectancy.
"One of the sad facts is that although life expectancy is going up, it is going up least in lower socioeconomic groups," Turner said.
"So we have to be sensitive to that when we put up the state pension age. For example, the person who starts work at 16 would be able to get something at 65. The person who went to university and started serious work at 23 is not going to get it until 70."
