The employment rate for those aged 50 to 64, currently at 71.3 per cent, has not yet fully recovered to its pre-pandemic level of 72.5 per cent in 2019, according to data released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
The figures revealed a decrease in the number of older people quitting their jobs to retire during the previous year, possibly reflecting the effects of the challenging economic climate.
Just Group group communications director at retirement specialist Stephen Lowe says: “A recovery in employment among workers aged 50-64 seems to be slowly emerging with a small increase over the past year perhaps driven by the cost of living crisis causing more older workers to seek work to bolster their financial position both in the short-term and looking ahead to retirement.
“This can be seen in the decline of older workers who left their last job to retire falling from 37 per cent in 2022 to 34 per cent in 2023 as the ‘great unretirement’ seems to be picking up pace. It suggests people nearing retirement are keen to continue working to build up bigger pension savings and protect against financial threats like the rising cost of everyday living.
“There is clear potential to be harnessed among this generation of silver workers who bring significant experience to the workforce. Nearly half a million economically inactive older workers say they would like a job so evidently a keen and willing talent pool exists for employers.
“The slow recovery in employment for this age group is concerning because this is the time of life where people tend to focus on retirement planning and extra pension saving. If they are struggling to find jobs that will have a knock-on effect on both their own retirement plans and potentially mean more State support will be needed.”
Phoenix Group director of Phoenix Insights Catherine Foot says: “Economic inactivity among over-50s remains stubbornly high, declining only slightly (0.8 per cent) between 2022 and 2023. Today’s figures highlight workplace participation rates among this group are much lower than we can afford, as the economy continues to miss the vital skills and experience provided by this group.
“Long-term sickness or disability continues to be one of the most common barriers to remaining in work. Of the 3.5 million people aged between 50 and 64 who are economically inactive, two in five (42.3 per cent) cite long-term sickness and disability as their primary reason for not looking for work. This figure rises to 3 in 5 (62.1 per cent) when considering the 460,000 people within this group say that they are willing or would like to work.
“This trend has serious implications for the future prospects of today’s over-50s, as they will have less time to build up their savings while in work and may end up without enough income to live on in retirement. Phoenix Insights, the longevity think tank from Phoenix Group, found the average wealth of 50–64-year-olds driven out of work due to ill health is just 5 per cent of those who retire by choice, which could leave them extremely financially vulnerable in later life.
“This is not an easy problem to solve, but it demonstrates there is a real need to ensure that proper support is offered to those in employment with long-term health issues, to allow them stay in work for as long as they wish to do so, or we risk a crisis down the line.
“We must look at why so many older workers feel that remaining in work is not possible, or is not the right choice for them, and how government and employers can offer the support and incentives needed to allow people to stay in work should they wish to.
“Our research shows just one in seven over-50s think there is sufficient support to encourage them to remain in or return to work, highlighting how much more there is to do, particularly for employers, to help people remain in work later in life.
“We found that two-thirds (64 per cent) of over-50s feel that flexible working hours would help them to remain in the workplace for longer, with over half (54 per cent) also citing the ability to work remotely.
“It is clear that employers must do more to recognise the needs of over-50s, providing more flexibility and better working conditions to reconcile work, family, and caring responsibilities, along with comprehensive sickness absence policies, to ensure as few people as possible feel unable to remain in work.”
