There is now a small majority of people in favour of an increase in the state pension age rather than opposed to it, according to the latest Maurice de Hond opinion poll.

The population has been more or less equally divided on the issue since the poll started in March but now some 47% of the population backs an increase and 42% are against, the poll shows.
The government plans to increase the state pension age from 65 to 67 to help reduce the budget deficit.
But the poll also shows that support for the higher pension age is strongly split on party lines. Some 79% of people who voted for the Christian Democrats (CDA) in the 2006 election are against the increase, as are 51% of Labour voters.
The CDA is the driving force behind the change in pension age in the current cabinet.