Bill English faces raising retirement age

Raising the retirement age would save the country billions of dollars in pension payments. (Getty)
Raising the retirement age would save the country billions of dollars in pension payments. (Getty)

A new look for the Government leadership means a potentially new look for the pension, as incoming Prime Minister Bill English faces the issue of raising the retirement age.

For eight years John Key refused to touch it, saying he "would resign" before he considered raising it.

Now that he's gone, there are calls for Mr English to make changes.

But Mr English is yet to give a position.

The current retirement age is 65, meaning raising it would save the country billions of dollars in pension payments.

The retirement age is also 65 in Canada, Britain and Australia.

Labour leader Andrew Little said under a Labour-led Government, the retirement age wouldn't be raised.

"There are a lot of working people who do tough manual work [and] they struggle to get to 65 at the moment. Raising it means it's further out of reach [and] they're forced to work longer."

The question about raising the retirement age will be one of the first Mr English faces in his first week, starting on Monday.

Newshub.