The state pension age within the UK is presently 66. But 9.5% of individuals aged 66 and older (1.12 million folks) had been nonetheless working, based on the latest information from the UK’s Annual Inhabitants Survey (July 2023 to June 2024). This determine has been rising over the previous decade, rising from 8.70% (880,000 folks) in July 2013 to June 2014.
We consider retirement as a time to pursue hobbies, chill out and benefit from the fruits of our labour. So why then, are so many individuals nonetheless working past retirement age, and who’re they? That is what we sought to search out out in a latest examine.
We investigated who’s extra prone to “select to work” and who’s “pressured to work”, utilizing information from the UK’s annual inhabitants survey.
Older staff will not be a homogeneous inhabitants. They differ by way of age, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, monetary scenario, well being circumstances and extra. Likewise, the explanations for working past retirement age range broadly. Some may fit as a result of they need to, whereas others could don’t have any possibility and really feel they should work to be able to make ends meet.
The beneath chart reveals the breakdown of those retirement-age staff by key demographic and socioeconomic traits from the latest information.
Three in 5 retirement-age staff had been males, and virtually all (94.4%) older staff had been white. Simply over half (51.5%) of older staff continued to work regardless of having long-term diseases.
Traits of staff aged 66 and older:
Creator supplied, information from Annual Inhabitants Survey July 2023 to June 2024, CC BY
The bulk (71.2%) of older staff had been married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting. Almost 40% of older staff had been employed in increased managerial, administrative {and professional} occupations, adopted by intermediate occupations equivalent to gross sales or some service roles (32.1%), and routine guide occupations (25.6%).
Greater than 85% of retirement-age staff lived within the south (52.8%) and the north (33.1%) of England, and 70% are owners.
Who’s ‘pressured’ to work?
In our examine, we calculated the chance of pension-age staff (66 years and older) with various demographic and socioeconomic traits being pressured to work.
The Annual Inhabitants Survey identifies six important the explanation why older staff proceed working past retirement age. These are:
A. To pay for fascinating gadgets (equivalent to holidays),B. Not able to cease work,C. Employer wants your expertise or you might be wanted within the household enterprise,D. As a consequence of alternatives to work extra versatile hours,E. To pay for important gadgets (equivalent to payments), andF. To spice up pension pot.
In our examine, we classed causes (A) to (D) as “select to work”, and (E) and (F) as “pressured to work”. Our evaluation, based mostly on the latest dataset (April 2022 to March 2023) on the time of the examine, revealed that girls are 25% extra prone to be pressured to work in comparison with males, and Asian staff are 120% extra prone to be pressured to work than white staff (with 34% and 17% extra seemingly for older staff from black and different ethnic backgrounds, respectively).
Staff with out long-term sickness are 33% much less prone to be pressured to work than these with long-term sickness, and non-married or single staff are 56% extra prone to be pressured to work in comparison with seniors who’re married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting.
Staff in intermediate and routine guide occupations are 37% and 67% extra prone to be pressured to work, respectively, in comparison with these in increased managerial occupations. Older staff from the south of England usually tend to be be pressured to work in comparison with seniors from another components of the UK, and retirement-age staff with mortgages or renting had been 117% extra prone to be pressured to work in comparison with those that owned their properties.
Who’s extra prone to be ‘pressured to work’?:
Creator supplied, information from Annual Inhabitants Survey April 2022 to March 2023., CC BY
Ageing populations
This issues due to the altering nature of labor, the rising price of residing and the UK’s ageing inhabitants. Retirement-age staff will probably be more and more pressured to work longer as a result of rising state pension age (attributable to enhance to 67 in 2026-27).
Understanding who works by selection and who by necessity into retirement age is vital, as a result of these teams will want completely different sorts of assist and sources.
For instance, the upper chance of being pressured to work amongst older feminine staff could be partly attributed to profession breaks they took to function major caregivers for his or her youngsters, which frequently prevented them from accumulating ample pensions.
Because the state pension age is anticipated to proceed rising, it’s essential for policymakers and employers to design assist methods for numerous demographic and socioeconomic teams of older staff, addressing their distinctive wants. This begins with understanding why persons are working into previous age.
