Raising the UK pension age to 75 would add more than £180 billion to the economy, a report suggests.

Taxpayers face growing costs because of Britain’s ageing population and increases in life expectancy.

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) report called for the state pension age to be accelerated to 70 by 2028, and, to step it up to 75 by 2035.

The rises would need “improvements to workplace support and healthcare” for older employees.

Half of UK adults will be over 50 by the mid-2030s, the think tank said.

It added that placing more 55 to 64-year-olds into work would slash the costs of out of work benefits but also help boost GDP by around 9%, equating to £182 billion.

The report, called Ageing Confidently – Supporting an Ageing Workforce, argues that employers should have greater responsibility for supporting older employees in work.

Andy Cook, chief executive of the CSJ, said:

“Working longer has the potential to improve health and wellbeing, increase retirement savings and ensure the full functioning of public services for all.”

“Right now, we are not doing enough to help older people stay in work and the state pension age doesn’t even closely reflect healthy working life expectancy.”

“All generations deserve to be supported in their choices and the current lack of support for older members of the UK workforce is both socially inexcusable and economically short sighted.

“By increasing the State Pension Age, we can help people stay in gainful and life enhancing employment while also making a sound long term financial decision.”