Suspending the pensions triple lock is bad news for young people | Craig Berry

A one-off boost to pensions now isn't unfair if it means greater security in retirement for generations to come

The triple lock" is the most high-profile and contested area of pensions policy. It is also the most misunderstood. The lock, which ensures state pensions rise annually by the highest of average earnings growth, inflation or 2.5%, is almost always discussed in terms of the trade-off between pensioner benefits and working-age benefits. But to frame it simply like this is an error.

Therese Coffey has today announced the suspension of the triple lock. It will be welcomed by those who believe we need to rebalance public spending from the old to the young. However, despite many arguments to the contrary, young people are in fact among the main beneficiaries of the triple lock. They would actually suffer from its removal.

Craig Berry is a reader in political economy at Manchester Metropolitan University and author of Pensions Imperilled: The Political Economy of Private Pensions Provision in the UK