As part of his 2010 Budget, Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced the government intends to launch a formal consultation on reforms to the default retirement age.
This includes considering options for: removing it, increasing it and reforming the legislative framework to strengthen the position of the employee.
Carol Dempsey, reward partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: "The cost of providing pensions is growing and the main ways to avoid a burden on future taxpayers include: lower benefits, higher personal savings, higher individual pensions contributions and, as the government has recognised today, retiring later.
“We support this flexibility but employers will have to give careful consideration to managing different generations in the workplace and they will need to reassess the role a traditional pension scheme plays in the overall employment deal.”
No changes will be made before April 2011.