It comes courtesy of the triple lock, which means that each April, the state pension will rise with inflation, wages, or 2.5% - whichever is highest. This year, it was wages. The triple lock has fundamentally been a force for good. Some of us are old enough to remember what life was like for pensioners before it was introduced, especially after the earnings link was broken in 1980, and pensioners watched wages race away.
5 billion in 2022/23, which is just under half of the total benefits bill. The Office for Budget Responsibility has calculated that the price tag then soared to £124 billion in the 2023/24 tax year. And while the bill rises, there are fewer people to pay it. There were 605,479 live births in England and Wales in 2022 - the lowest number in 20 years – while the fertility rate hit a record low. It means that over time, bigger pensions will need to be paid by a smaller working population.