evidence: The age structure of the UK population is projected to change substantially over the next few decades. Figure 3.1 shows the fraction of adults (aged 20+) who are aged 65 or above, and the fraction over the SPA (which is currently 66 for both men and women, but as recently as 2010 was 60 for women and 65 for men). The share of the adult population aged 65 or above was relatively flat, between 21% and 22%, for the period 1977 to 2012, but rose from 22% to 24% between 2012 and 2020, and is projected to rise to 31% by 2050. [...] Despite this rising share of the population aged 65 and over, the share of people above the SPA has so far remained remarkably constant because of the large increases in the SPA for women since 2010. However, despite further increases in the SPA – to 67 by 2028 and 68 by 2046 for both men and women – already legislated, the fraction of people above SPA is currently projected to increase from 24% in 2023 to 27% in 2050. Together with population growth, this means that by 2050 the number of individuals above the SPA will be 25% higher than today.