In the town where locals are afraid they’ll die before they get their pension – people say they’re ‘worked to the death’

WORKERS fear dying before they ever receive their pensions amid a grim forecast that could see millions work to their deaths.

This week The Sun announced that the government plans to raise the retirement age to 68 as early as 2035.

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It means Britons born in the 1970s and later are likely to be told as early as the March Budget that they will have to work longer hours.

And this despite the fact that the statutory retirement age is set to rise from 66 to 67 by 2028.

And people in Glasgow say the bleak prognosis weighs particularly heavily on them.

Here, the average remaining life expectancy after 40 years is 34.8 or 39.8 years for men and women.

In comparison, women in London’s upscale Kensington and Chelsea can live 9.3 years longer than women in Glasgow.

The figures linked to the news of the pension increase have left residents of the Scottish city reeling, stressing that the working class is “suffering”.

“Concerned” Scottish construction workers Nigel Love, 55, and Steven Munro, 28, say they would be furious if the state pension age were raised.

Nigel fumed: “Life expectancy means the working class will suffer and they won’t benefit from retirement.

“I’ve worked my whole life and paid my taxes, but if I get injured or I’m unemployed tomorrow, I get nothing.”

Steven added, “You just don’t know what’s going to happen, especially in our job.”

Both said they feared having to secure money later in life or even having to go back to work in old age just to make ends meet.

Retired amateur photographer Robin Miller, 67, said he thought the proposed pay rise was “outrageous”.

He explained: “There’s a question for the people who survive, that unless they get some kind of welfare, they’re left with nothing.

“That’s the way the world is: ‘Take care of yourself because we don’t,’ money is more important than people’.”

‘PLAY WITH FIRE’

While videographer Kaitlin Wraight believes the move is more political, with no regard for those who may need it most.

The 22-year-old added: “The NHS is in such a crisis, until our health worsens we won’t be able to work as long.

“It’s just cruel.”

Ministers plan to bring forward the pension increase date as the population ages and birth rates fall.

The plans, which could come in the March budget, would mean fewer young people will be forced to foot the tax bill.

But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have been warned they are “playing with fire” if the big change comes before the next general election.

Despite the backlash, retired Anne Brown stressed how every day people die before they can claim their pension and said the hikes were “appropriate”.

She said: “There are two views: young people are preparing to pay in now and retirees have already paid in for it.

“People like me, in their 60s, definitely deserve it.”

An increase from 67 to 68 is not expected until 2046, but an upcoming review of the retirement age is expected to bring this forward.

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