Social security systems for old age have been explicitly studied in a public choice framework for over 30 years. They illustrate extremely well the problems of allocating economic resources through a system of voting. This paper examines the incentives facing voters to expand state pension provision and the possibilities of reducing state pension provision by increasing state pension age. As such it is of great relevance for the study of policy in ageing societies where implicit pension liabilities are increasing and will prove difficult to reduce.

In this paper, the costs and benefits that will be faced by different groups of voters as a result of state pension reform in the UK are examined. It is shown that state pension systems will be very difficult to reform in ways that reduce government provision.

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