On the go: The number of “early retirees” is at a 23-year low, according to latest employment figures from the Office for National Statistics, signalling that despite vestiges of ageism the older worker is in the ascendant.
UK citizens are also continuing to work beyond 65 in greater numbers than ever before with 1.26m over-65s still in work, a rise of 75,000 over 2017.
The number of people who label themselves as retired before the age of 65 has also fallen to 1.19m, down by nearly a third since 2011 The number of “early retirees” – those who leave work before the age of 65 – is likely to hit an all-time low in the coming year.
A key driver in the recent collapse of early retirees has been the increase in the women’s state pension age. The number of women labelled as retired before the age of 65 has fallen by approximately 40 per cent since 2010, to an all-time low of 0.66 million.
Commenting, Alistair McQueen, head of savings & retirement at Aviva said: “The state pension continues to represent the biggest source of income for the average retiree. The age at which we receive this critical income plays a huge part in determining the age at which we choose to retire.
“As the state pension age rises we can expect our working lives to increase, and the numbers choosing early retirement to fall.”
Helen Morrissey, pension specialist at Royal London, added: “The number of people aged over 65 who are still in work continues to grow. While this may be partly due to people not having saved enough for retirement it is also an indicator of a more flexible working market where people can continue to work for longer if they want to and this should be welcomed.”
In January 2018 ONS employment figures showed that a milestone had been reached with the UK having more than 10m workers aged 50 and above for the first time, a near doubling of the population since equivalent records began in 1992 and a reflection of its increasing life expectancy.
