Rev,
The cynic would suggest that the state likes people working longer not so much because they have the right to do so, but because they are invariably wealthier than young people and can therefore be pinged for more tax. Especially if the Lib Dems succeed in raising the threshold for paying tax on income in this budget to £10000 or so.
With the chipping away at annual and lifetime allowances in pension savings, and the regular slamming shut of tax breaks as George bolsters the Euro defence fund, the truism 'it ain't what you earn, its what you keep' has never rung clearer.