Instead, the Economic Affairs Committee insists getting people in their mid-50s and mid-60s to remain in or return to work is the only viable solution to avert financial catastrophe.

Lord Wood of Anfield, the committee’s chair, handed down a severe warning. People are having few children and living longer, he said, but successive governments have failed to focus on the seismic effects an ageing population will have on the economy and society.

“Raising the state pension age, which saves the Government money, but increases pensioner poverty as many people have already stopped working by their sixties, is a red herring,” the peer stated.

“Getting more people in their fifties and sixties to stay in or return to work is key.”

The report paints an alarming picture of the country’s future. Office of Budget Responsibility forecasts warn that, without major policy changes, borrowing would balloon above 20 per cent and debt would soar past 270 per cent of GDP by the early 2070s.

And the country’s dependency ratio (the proportion of non-working age people supported by those in work) is projected to surge from 31 per cent to 47 per cent over the next half-a-century.

Fertility rates have collapsed to record lows. In 2023, England and Wales recorded just 1.44 children per woman, well below the level needed to maintain a stable population.

By 2072, 27 per cent of the population will be over 65 compared to 19 per cent just three years ago. Those aged over 85 will nearly double to 3.3 million by 2047.

The report demolished policies previously touted by Governments as solutions to the crisis.

Even higher immigration levels would prove insufficient to address the challenges, peers found. Efforts to boost fertility rates have largely failed in other countries and would likely fail here too.

Today’s young people face an even grimmer reality. Lord Wood warned they will need to fundamentally change their approach to financial planning.

“To successfully confront this challenge the approach to financial management of today’s and tomorrow’s young people will need to change,” he said. “They will need, from a much earlier stage in their lives, to plan and prepare to work longer and save more.”

The committee uncovered surprising findings about age discrimination. While it may reduce employment of over 50s, evidence suggests the most damaging form is self-directed, with older workers mistakenly believing discrimination is worse than it actually is and limiting their own job applications.

Research shows no systematic productivity differences between older and younger workers in most types of work.

The crisis in adult social care compounds the problem. Peers called the situation a “scandal” and urged the Government to address it urgently. An ageing population will require more care workers, meaning fewer people available for other productive sectors.

The report demands immediate action, such as calling on the Government to fix problems with public service pensions that it claims discourage people from working longer.

And it calls for ‘widespread ignorance’ about retirement costs to be tackled. The committee called for a public education campaign and questioned whether financial services firms are properly organised to support an ageing population.

Lord Wood’s final assessment was damning. “The lack of a published strategy or forum for discussion on this topic demonstrates that this serious, but long-term, issue is not be taken seriously enough,” he concluded.

The Government’s response so far has focused primarily on improving productivity. But peers warned this cannot be the sole solution given decades of failed productivity improvements and the scale of the fiscal challenge ahead.

The full report “Preparing for an ageing society” was published by the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee following a nine-month inquiry launched in March 2025.