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What "healthy" life expectancy going down in UK means for pensions: "A poor retirement looks more likely for most"

ended 19. February 2026

HEALTHY life expectancy is going down in the UK with experts warning that pensions will be affected and "a poor retirement looks more likely for most".

In 2022 to 2024, men in the UK could expect to spend 60.7 years (77% of life) in "good" general health, compared with 60.9 years (73%) for women, new data shows.

These were decreases of 1.8 and 2.5 years, respectively, compared with the last period of 2019 to 2021.

Despite modest increases in life expectancy since 2019 to 2021, healthy life expectancy (HLE) at birth in the UK, for both men and women, decreased to its lowest level since 2011 to 2013.

England continued to have the highest HLE at birth among UK constituent countries for both men (60.9 years) and women (61.3 years), Scotland had the lowest for men (59.1 years) and Wales had the lowest for women (58.5 years).

Life expectancy in the UK for 2022 to 2024 was 83 for women and 79.1 for men.

The UK State Pension age is currently 66 for both men and women. It is rising to 67 for those born on or after April 1961.

Stephen Perkins, Managing Director at Norwich-based Yellow Brick Mortgages, said he expects many will have a poor retirement.

He added: "With the age at which you can draw a pension looking to go up and the healthy life expectancy going down, a poor retirement looks more likely for most. 

“Some will look at these figures and adopt a ‘work til i die’ approach and some will think about getting as much out of their pensions as early as possible to enjoy while healthy enough to do so. 

"I can also see an increase in Equity Release as more of the ageing population is property rich and cash poor in retirement.”

Antonia Medlicott, Founder & MD at London-based Investing Insiders, said many have not even checked their pensions and it lead to a “catastrophe”.

She added: "Nearly 90% of funds in popular categories are underperforming a simple FTSE 100 benchmark. And yet research from Pensions Age shows that one in seven UK adults have never even checked their pension at all. 

“According to Standard Life, 47% of UK adults are unable to estimate their pension pot size. Much more effort needs to be put into getting workers engaged with their pension, helping them understand what they'll need for a comfortable retirement, and how to get it. Without this, we're heading for a catastrophe.

Nouran Moustafa, Practice Principal & IFA at Roxton Wealth, said you need to think about your pension now.

She added: "Too many younger workers opt out or delay planning because retirement feels distant, and that behaviour compounds over time. A pension isn’t a ‘later problem’, it’s a lifetime asset. 

"The priority now should be education and participation: understanding how pensions work, staying enrolled, and increasing contributions where possible. The earlier people engage, the more control they have over their future security.

"Waiting until your 50s to think about retirement is the most expensive financial mistake people make. Time, not income, is the greatest pension advantage and once lost can’t recover."

 

2 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Stephen Perkins
Managing Director at Yellow Brick Mortgages
With the age at which you can draw a pension looking to go up and the healthy life expectancy going down, a poor retirement looks more likely for most. Some will look at these figures and adopt a "work til i die" approach and some will think about getting as much out of their pensions as early as possible to enjoy while healthy enough to do so. I can also see an increase in Equity Release as more of the ageing population is property rich and cash poor in retirement.
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Rohit Parmar-Mistry
Founder at Pattrn Data
The government's spreadsheet says we should work until we're 68. Human biology has firmly disagreed.

This drop in healthy life expectancy is a ticking time bomb. We are staring down a massive 'retirement gap', millions of people will be forced out of the workforce by ill health in their early 60s, years before they can claim the State Pension. The neoliberal fantasy that we can infinitely raise the retirement age to balance the books is collapsing in real time.

What does this mean for private pensions? They’ll be cannibalised. Instead of compounding wealth during their 60s, workers will be draining their private pots prematurely just to survive until the state steps in. It turns pensions into emergency life support rather than actual retirement funds.

A longer life means nothing if it’s spent sick and broke. The system isn't just failing to protect our old age; it’s actively setting us up for poverty.