New campaign demands £580 a week state pension and retirement age of 60

Petition demands a state pension increase and a retirement age of 60 in ' living wage' campaign

Campaigners are urging for a dramatic increase in the state pension to over £30,000 a year and a reduction in the age of eligibility to 60.

The petition is demanding that the state pension be equivalent to 48 hours a week at the National Living Wage, which currently pays £12.21 an hour for workers aged over 21.

The current state pension age is 66 for both men and women, and is set to rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028. The petition says: "We want the Government to make the state pension available from the age of 60 & increase this to equal 48hrs a week at the National Living Wage."

Following the petition, the universal state pension should be £586.08 per week or about £30,476.16 per year as a right to all, including expatriates, aged 60 and above.

This increase would more than double the full new state pension rate, which currently stands at £230.25 a week, or £11,973 a year.

Campaigners also worry that the government intends to make the state pension system less generous, claiming: "We think that government policy seems intent on the state pension being a benefit not paid to all, while ever increasing the age of entitlement.

"We want reforms to the state pension, so that it is available to all, including expatriates, from age 60, and linked to the National Living Wage, for security."

If the petition accumulates 10,000 signatures, the government will have no choice but to respond, and if it reaches 100,000 supporters, the matter could even be up for debate in Parliament, per the Express.

To be eligible for the full new state pension, you would need a record of 35 years of National Insurance contributions. The full basic state pension currently stands at £176.45 a week, and typically requires someone to have 30 years of National Insurance contributions.

You can check your projected state pension using the state pension forecast tool on the government website.

State pension payments see an annual increase each April, due to the triple lock policy, which determines the percentage increase for payment rates.

The triple lock ensures that pay rises are in line with the highest of either inflation, average earnings growth, or 2.5 per cent. Based on recent research, the earnings metric appears to be set to be the key determinant for the next increase, standing at 5.3 per cent.