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Under the triple lock, state pension payment rates are guaranteed to rise by the highest of either inflation, average wage growth or 2.5 per cent

The state pension triple lock could be scrapped to give "younger workers a leg up", according to analysts.

Earlier today, the British Chambers of Commerce renewed its demand for the benefit uprate mechanism to be abolished, arguing the policy's ballooning expense can no longer be justified.

Under the triple lock, the full new state pension now stands at £241.30 per week, equivalent to £12,548 annually., after a 4.8 per cent uplift this April.

That increase was dictated by the triple lock's formula, which guarantees pensioners a rise each year matching whichever is greatest among CPI inflation, average wage growth or a 2.5 per cent floor.

According to the Resolution Foundation, the guarantee will add £15.5billion a year to the pension bill by 2029-30 compared with a straightforward earnings link, roughly triple original estimates.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has cautioned that economic turbulence could push costs even higher, potentially adding 1.5 per cent of national income beyond existing forecasts.

Critics claim the triple lock channels disproportionate protection to a single demographic at a time when younger workers are contending with soaring rents, unaffordable housing and a growing tax burden driven by the needs of an ageing population.

Susannah Streeter, Chief Investment Strategist at Wealth Club, said the controversy was "raising fresh questions about the need for a new social contract to give younger workers a leg up and reduce the generous uprating terms of the state pension"

She added: "The universal triple lock does give especially strong protection to one age group at a time when younger generations face high rents, struggle to buy homes and have a heavier tax burden to support an ageing population."

The business lobby's intervention underscores a widening consensus that the current settlement tilts resources too heavily towards retirees at the expense of working-age households.

As well as this, analysts cite that the tax-free threshold has been frozen at £12,570 and will remain there until at least April 2031, while the full new state pension has climbed to £12,548.

That leaves a margin of just £22 between the two figures, which means Britons could begin paying income tax on their state pension payments alone.

A third official review of the state pension age, initiated in July 2025, is not expected to report until March 2029.

Alongside it, the revived Pensions Commission released an interim report in May 2026 flagging inadequate savings among low and middle earners, with its final proposals due in early 2027.

Meanwhile, the state pension age is already rising from 66 to 67 in a phased transition that started this April and concludes in March 2028, with legislation placing a further increase to 68 in the mid-2040s.

The IFS advocates a smoothed earnings link pegging the pension to a fixed proportion of median full-time pay, drawing on the Australian model.

Ms Streeter added: "All this speculation is potentially harmful as people need certainty to plan for retirement. Whether you're 30, 40 or 50, you need to have some idea of what the state pension will provide so you can work out how much you need to save privately."