One in 3 Babies to reach 100

A third of all babies born in the last year are likely to still be alive in 2112, compared to just one in five babies born in 2007. The ONS also said that the number of centenarians will rise to almost half a million people by 2050. The rise in life expectancy presents a “huge challenge” for people saving for their retirement, the pensions industry warned. “This challenge needs to be tackled if people are not going to retire in poverty,” said Darren Philp, policy director at the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), which represents the pensions industry. Life expectancy has risen steadily over the last century due to improved diets, advances in medicine and a move away from manual labour, which contributed to people’s poor health in the past. The prolonged life expectancy will heap pressure on the cost of pension and healthcare provision in the decades ahead. The state pension age is already scheduled to rise to 67, for both men and women, by 2026. In last week’s Budget, George Osborne announced a further review of the state pension age to make sure it keeps on rising if as people live longer. Steve Lowe, external affairs director at Just Retirement, a pensions company, said: “Whilst it is reassuring that life expectancy at age 65 is improving, this increases financial pressures in retirement, as pension pots need to be spread out over a longer retirement period.” According to the ONS, a third of the 826,000 babies in the UK currently under the age of one are likely to still be alive in a century’s time. Meanwhile the number of centenarians will rise sharply between now and 2060, the ONS said. There were only 12,000 people over the age of 100 in the UK in 2010. This is predicted to rise by up to 455,000 by 2060, an increase of almost 40 times the 2010 level. In 1961, there were only 592 people over the milestone age, the ONS said. “It is great news that people are living longer. But this highlights the huge challenge facing people when it comes to saving for a longer retirement,” said the NAPF’s Mr Philp. The number of women who reach 100 has always been higher than the number of men who reach the milestone, and this is likely to continue. In 2010 there were 10,000 women over 100 and just 2,000 men. The ONS said that the number of female centenarians could hit 276,000 by 2060, while the number of male centenarians will be around 179,000. This is because women tend to live healthier lives than men. A report last year found that half of British workers are not saving enough for their retirement, while the National Association of Pension Funds recently warned that the number of people paying into workplace pensions has fallen to its lowest level since the 1950s. “It is astonishing that pension uptake has slumped to such a lose level. With a graying population living longer and longer, it is the last thing we need,” Joanne Segars, the NAPF’s chief executive, recently said.