Get the facts
Far from being a time of misery, poverty and frailty, life for most people in their 50s, 60s and 70s is characterised by good health, independence, control and a good quality of life.
Work trends
- An increasing number of people are choosing to remain in work beyond pensionable age: 6% in 1997 and 8% in 2004.
- 71% of those aged between 50 and State Pension Age (SPA) are in employment, compared to 82% of those aged 25-49 and 59% of those aged 16-24.
- A recent study by insurer GE Life has estimated that 10% of retired people now work part-time for an average of 14 hours per week to supplement their income.
- In 2004, Age Concern estimated that annual economic output could rise by as much as £29.7 billion if nearly 1 million older adults rejoined the workforce; not to mention the additional, but hidden, costs of poorer health in inactive older people.
- According to William Bridges, the lack of job security in today's workplace means that we are all temporary workers and that 'all jobs in today's economy are temporary'.
- Of the 78 million baby boomers in the US, 76% intend to keep working in their retirement years, according to Merrill Lynch's 2007 retirement study.
- 72% of men and 68% of women between 50 and SPA were employed in 2004, compared with 64% and 60% in 1994.
- Self-employment is more common among older workers than among those under 50. In Spring 2004, 19% of people aged 50 and over in the UK were self-employed, compared with 14% of people aged 25-49. Self-employment was also more common in older men than older women: 26% compared with 11% respectively.
Thinking about retirement?
Six in 10 people define the word 'retirement' as some combination of work and leisure.
The fear of being unable to cope financially after retirement is felt by only a relatively small proportion of pre-retirees, and the same is true for post-retirees. 70% of pre- and post-retirees are not worried.
In a global study, 71% of people who expected to continue working rather than retiring early said it was because they wanted to. And of those over 60s who had continued working for as long as possible, 67% said they did so because they wanted to.
Malcolm Forbes famously said, 'Retirement kills more people than hard work ever did'.
A 26-year study of more than 3,500 former employees of Shell in Texas found that men and women who retired at 55 were nearly twice as likely to die within the following 10 years as those who retired at 60 or 65. The research by Shan Tsai of Shell Health Services in Houston explodes the myth that early retirement leads to a longer life expectancy.
Voluntary and unpaid work
- The over 60s contribute around 18 million hours of voluntary work in the UK per week - approximately 792 million hours each year. At the UK's current minimum wage of £5.52 per hour, their work is worth £4.37 billion a year.
- In the UK, the over 60s contribute up to £50 billion worth of work each year in unpaid family care - that's over 3% of our gross domestic product.
- People aged 50-74 are more likely to do voluntary work than younger adults.
Retire from work, but not from life.
M.K. Soni
See what a difference we're making!
- B&Q's Macclesfield store, staffed entirely by people over the age of 50, achieved 18% more profit, 39% less absenteeism and 59% less shrinkage than B&Q's other benchmarked stores.
- Nationwide Building Society saved £7 million in staff turnover costs by extending the recruitment age to above 60.
- Halifax Building Society increased its profits by £130,000 at six branches by trialing an older workforce.
