A century of the state pension – and why the next redesign is overdue

As the pensions industry spends most of its time looking forward, 2026 offers a rare excuse to look back. Just over 100 years ago, parliament passed the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act 1925, a milestone that helped shift the UK from a limited, largely means-tested safety net towards a national system based on contributions and pooled risk. It was not simply a technical reform. It reflected a recognition that old-age poverty, the death of a breadwinner and insecure work were risks individuals could not sensibly manage alone. The state stepped in to mutualise tho...