Pensioners will be £30 a week better off due to the triple lock, figures have revealed, amid calls for the policy to be scrapped.
The full state pension is set to rise to £241 a week from next April, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said yesterday.
This will be 14 per cent – or £30 a week – higher than it would have been had the lock not been introduced.
Under the triple lock, the state pension rises each year in line with either inflation, wage increases or 2.5 per cent – whichever is the highest.
It now costs the Government £12billion more a year than it would have done had the state pension only gone up in line with average earnings since 2011, when the lock was introduced.
While the triple lock has increased pensioners’ living standards over the last 14 years, the IFS said that ministers should ‘move away’ from it after the next election.
Instead, the think tank suggests that the state pension should be uprated in line with a ‘smoothed earnings link’ –where the pension is pegged to earnings over the medium term but can be topped up when there is high inflation.
The IFS said: ‘Together, these features of the smoothed earnings link would mean that the state pension both keeps up with growing standards of living in the long run, while providing inflation protection in times of economic turmoil.
Pensioners will be £30 a week better off due to the triple lock, according to new figures which come amid calls for the policy to be scrapped (Stock Image)
‘This would provide greater predictability for both pensioners and policymakers.
‘While the Government has committed to keeping the triple lock this parliament, a sensible approach would be to move away from the triple lock after the next election.’
September’s Consumer Price Index inflation figure, which is a key part of the triple lock, will be published today.
It is also used to decide the level of increase for other benefits, such as universal credit, tax credits and disability benefits.
Experts expect the figure to hit its highest level for 21 months – although it could represent a peak in the rising cost of living for households.
The Bank of England previously forecast that inflation would peak at about four per cent in September before steadily falling.
Inflation hit 3.8 per cent in July and August amid pressure from rising food prices as firms highlighted increased tax and labour costs.
