Majority oppose Isle of Man pension rise to 45 years

Last year's report said the Manx state pension is paid "too early, too generously."

Plans to extend Isle of Man pension contributions by another 15 years have been opposed in a public consultation.

It follows a review last September which said the island's pension plans were "unsustainable" and "broken".

Proposals being considered could mean people born in 2011 or later having to work into their seventies.

In a government consultation, 54% of respondents disagreed with extending the number of qualifying years from 30 to 45.

The Isle of Man government said 414 people wrote in with their views - one of the largest responses ever received.

The survey also showed that 48% of people were in favour of the Isle of Man having a separate state pension arrangement to the UK.

40% of those who responded thought time spent in retirement (currently set as one-third of working life) is fair- 32% thought it unfair and 28% did not know.

The qualifying age in the Isle of Man is presently the same as the UK - men can draw a pension at 65 and, by 2018, the female retirement age will rise to the same level.

The current state pension on the island is worth about £167 a week.

There are currently about 35,000 people on the Isle of Man contributing to the National Insurance fund, compared with 19,000 who are drawing pensions.

The latter figure, according to the Manx government, is expected to rise by 93% over the next 30 years.