The Pension Triple Lock Isn't Choking Britain

Britain’s so-called pension triple lock gets a bad rap. Follow the debate in the media and you might get the impression that an irresponsible commitment to raise the real value of retirement benefits paid by the state is driving the country toward imminent fiscal collapse. But criticism of the policy is overstated — it’s neither the lavish giveaway nor the urgent crisis that public handwringing suggests.

The triple lock guarantees that the state pension will increase each year by the highest of average earnings, inflation as measured by the consumer price index, or 2.5%. Introduced in 2011-2012 — against a less volatile backdrop — the policy has been called increasingly into question amid the precarious state of Britain’s post-Covid finances. The Office for Budget Responsibility and the International Monetary Fund are the latest to add fuel to the fire, spotlighting its fiscal cost and floating the possibility of an end to the guarantee in separate reports this month.