The National Association of Pension Funds' annual survey of its members has found a widespread belief that the official retirement age will reach 70 by 2030.

Forum Response: National Association of Pension Funds

Christine Farnish, chief executive of the NAPF, said: "This survey highlights the pressures on employers who provide workplace pension schemes. It is a timely reminder to the government of the importance of next week's green paper as an opportunity to address the endless complexity that faces occupational pensions.

"Against this background, thousands of employers continue to maintain high-quality pension schemes, but there is a real danger that as the cost of provision rises, the level of provision will fall.

"Lower investment returns and longer life expectancy have undoubtedly contributed to this cost pressure. But the atmosphere in which companies provide pensions for their employees is getting thinner.

"We hope the government will produce proposals in the green paper which lead to a simpler pensions landscape, and which can boost both confidence and security in the pensions system."

Forum Response: Counsel and Care

Martin Green, chief executive of Counsel and Care, told ePolitix.com: "The government need to take a firm hold of the pensions issue and realise that pensions, as they are currently configured, are not going to meet the challenge of an ageing society in the 21st century."

Forum Response: Age Concern

Gordon Lishman, director general of Age Concern, said: "Any move to raise the basic state pension age will directly penalise millions of lower earning workers who are already likely to have worked the longest and have the hardest jobs.

"Age Concern believes that a hike in the basic state pension age would serve as a final blow to those older workers who may do physically harder manual jobs and cannot afford early retirement.

"These people are likely to have left school at 15 or 16 to go to work, have the worst health, the lowest life expectancy at retirement, and have paid national insurance contributions for longer. An increase in the basic state pension age would literally steal away a larger proportion of these people's time in retirement.

"We welcome the debate on pensions, believing that retirement ages should still be looked at, but only in terms of promoting a more flexible retirement where people have the choice to either carry on working longer or retire when they reach 65.

"Also, one third of people aged between 50 and state pension age are currently not working, often for reasons such as age discrimination or lack of suitable work. Rather than force people to wait longer for their state pension the priority is to provide more opportunities and tackle obstacles such as age discrimination, and to enable more flexible retirement.

"We must bring an end to this proposal before millions of our poorest labour-force are left to bear the brunt. Instead we should look at the real issues of providing a decent pension for all with more choice and flexibility around retirement."

Forum Response: Help the Aged

Mervyn Kohler, head of public affairs at Help the Aged, said: "We would like to see serious labour market reform for older workers, including reform of pension rules, part-time packages being made available and retraining initiatives being offered.

"Ending age discrimination in employment is paramount. We should encourage (but not compel) older people to extend their working lives to improve their pension prospects. We believe, therefore, that there should be no official retirement age."

Government Response

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions told ePolitix.com: "The government is addressing the reforms needed in the pensions system in the forthcoming green paper which will be published next week."