Lord Sikka (Lab)

My Lords, ageing problems begin during childhood and are incubated by poor government policies. A June 2026 paper in Nature Human Behaviour noted that consequences of poverty, inequality and discrimination accelerate biological ageing from a very young age. Adults enduring childhood economic deprivation age at a significantly accelerated biological pace, even if they achieve financial security in later life. Many need support. Austerity, real wage and benefit cuts, and degradation of the NHS deprive people of nutritious food, good housing, healthcare and possibilities of working until a later age. A regressive tax system prevents the poor saving for old age. The poorest 20% pay a higher proportion of income in direct and indirect taxes than the richest 20%. The income tax personal allowance has been frozen at £12,570 since 2021. If it had increased in line with inflation, it would now be £16,070. As a result, someone earning just £17,000 this year will be paying £1,000 more in income tax and national insurance. Some 39% of adults in the UK have savings of less than £1,000. Millions simply cannot save for old age. Premature biological ageing prevents people working until a later age. Some 7.27 million hospital appointments are awaited, fuelling a rise in chronic illness and disabilities. The average healthy life expectancy has declined to 60.7 years for males and 60.9 years for females. In parts of Blackpool, it is 50.9 years for males and 51.2 years for females. In parts of Scotland, it is 44.8 years for males and 44.2 years for females. It is hard to know how we are going to get people aged around 50 to work. Calls for educating younger people about the financial cost of retirement will bear little fruit. In a society where 1% have more wealth than 70% of the population combined, pushing pensioners into poverty is not the answer: it will simply lead to a form of economic euthanasia. The ageing problems are nurtured by inequitable distribution of wealth, poor housing and healthcare, and regressive taxation. Government must rise to the challenge.