The State Pension increases annually in April. The size of the increase is decided using measures from the previous year under the triple lock, the highest of:
- CPI inflation in the year to September,
- average earnings growth in the year to May to July, or
- 2.5%.
For 2026 to 2027, the new State Pension will increase by 4.8%, in line with average earnings growth for May to July 2025. That increase applies from 6 April 2026.
This design contains a built-in timing lag. The increase is fixed months before it arrives, using a snapshot of past inflation or earnings. In periods where prices move quickly, this can leave people managing higher costs before their income catches up.
A once-a-year uprating is also a blunt tool because household costs do not change once a year. The price of food, energy, housing, etc., changes across the year. A single April increase cannot adjust to those changes as they happen.
This is not just a technical point. It affects whether the State Pension can provide predictable security through the year, especially for people with little financial slack. 2025 Age UK research found that 34% of pensioners (4.1m) felt less financially secure in 2025 than in 2024, and that 23% (2.8m) had colder homes than they would like, all or most of the time.
These measures reflect wider pressures, including energy and housing costs, and help to illustrate why people can still feel squeezed even when the annual uprating looks strong on paper. DWP has also confirmed that there will be no Cost of Living Payment for 2026, so for many households, the April uprating is now the main moment when income support adjusts.
If the policy goal is stability in living standards, one annual uprating may not be enough on its own. There are other potential options, for example, setting increases at a level that is more likely to stay ahead of costs across the year, including when costs rise after the measurement point, or uprating more than once a year, so income can respond more quickly when prices change.
The 2026 increase shows the system can deliver a higher rise when earnings growth is strong, but this does not solve the timing problem. If the government wants the State Pension to feel reliable in real time, it needs to address the gap between how income is increased, and how costs actually rise.
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