The triple lock is a safeguard that applies to the UK state pension to ensure it doesnt lose value because of inflation. It is a system of three measures that decide how much the state pension will rise each year, and its primary aim is to protect the state pension from inflation and ensure that it rises by a real and tangible amount each year. The triple lock system guarantees that the state pension increases annually by the higher of either average earnings growth, inflation as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), or 2.5% . This means that each year, the state pension would increase by the highest of the three measures. If neither average earnings nor inflation rises by over 2.5%, the state pension will still grow by this amount.
If you are currently receiving the state pension, the triple lock ensures that your spending power will not diminish over the course of your retirement (for as long as all three guarantees remain in place) . It also means that if inflation is below 2.5%, your pension increases will beat inflation, improving your spending power. The triple lock is important for pensioners because it ensures that the state pension increases over time, and it should ensure that the state pension you receive into old age will, at the very least, buy the same amount of goods as it did when you first reached your state pension age.
The triple lock was introduced by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2010 to ensure the value of the state pension was not overtaken by the increase in the cost of living or the working populations income. The triple lock was temporarily suspended after the Covid pandemic distorted average wage figures, but it has since been restored. The government retains some discretion over the triple lock and can modify it or remove it completely.
