In 25 years, it was officially estimated last week, the UK will have 2.8 people of working age to every one retired, versus 3.2 today. An old story, you might think. Except that the story keeps getting worse.

The estimate allows for a planned rise in the official retirement age, by a year for men and six years for women. Meanwhile, the projection of life expectancy keeps rising – by 0.2 years for men and 0.5 years for women in the last two years alone.