Campaigners are calling for the state pension age to be lowered for unemployed Britons ahead of next year's changes to the retirement benefit.
A petition, created by George Bolgar, is urging the Labour Government to allow disabled people to access their state pension payments early.
This comes amid drastic changes to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) with £5billion in cuts to Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) taking place.
These changes have been criticised by charities, anti-poverty campaigners and MPs for potentially pushing disabled Britons further into poverty.
Campaigners are urging the Government to lower the state pension age for certain Britons
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On the petition website, Bolger addressed why early access to state pension payments could be necessary relief for disabled individuals.
He explained: "We think that any disabled person aged 60 who has been unemployed for at least five years should be given the choice to retire and claim the state pension immediately.
"We think that keeping people on DWPs unemployment list when there is no chance of them ever becoming employed again is extra work for the DWP and extra stress for the disabled person.
"We think that once someone is above 60 years old and are unemployed their likelihood of being employable is extremely reduced."
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Pensioners are worried about their future GETTY As it stands, the petition currently has 90 signatures but needs 10,000 to illicit an official response from the Government on the matter.
In order to get a debate in Parliament, the petition would need to get 100,000 signatures with the deadline being November 6, 2025.
Under the current schedule, the state pension age will be raised from to 67 between 2026 and 2028 for people born in certain years.
As it stands, the state pension age is sitting at 66 for both men and women with the threshold changing depending on various factors, including the economy and life expectancy data.
Concerns have been raised over the long-term viability of the state pension in its current form due to the long-term cost on the taxpayer.
According to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), it is estimated that the pensioner spending could rise to around eight per cent of GDP by 2072/73
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The state pension is administered by the DWPGETTYAs such, analysts are suggesting either reform to the triple lock, which determines the annual payment rate hike, or raising the state pension age to ease the tax burden.
Ed Monk, an associate director at Fidelity International, explained: "The state pension age has been rising, delaying the point at which future generations will be able to claim theirs.
"The Government has announced that the State Pension age will increase from 66 to 67 in stages between April 2026 and April 2028. Then from 67 to 68 between April 2044 and April 2046.3
"Further, or more rapid, rises cannot be ruled out but it would be hard to justify because improvement in life expectancy seem to have stalled."
