Older people working longer due to recent State Pension age changes putting retirement on hold

dailyrecord.co.uk:

New research has found that people in lower paid jobs are more likely to respond to the rising State Pension age by working for longer than those who are better off.

Data from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) shows that combined, 65-year-olds are working an additional 1.8 million hours per week due to the latest increase in the State Pension age from 65 to 66, which took place gradually between 2018 and October 2020.

By mid-2021, the male employment rate at age 65 rose to 42 per cent and the female rate to 31 per cent - both are the highest seen since at least the mid-1970s.And in the case of women, the figures are likely to be the highest rate ever in the UK, according to the research, funded by the Centre for Ageing Better.However, effects of the rise were also found to be unequal.In the most deprived fifth of areas, the employment rate for women aged 65 rose by 13 percentage points and by 10 percentage points for men.In the most prosperous areas, female and male employment rates at age 65 rose more gently, by four and five percentage points respectively.This almost certainly reflects the greater need for income at older ages among those living in poorer areas, the IFS said.

Jonathan Cribb, an associate director at IFS and an author of the report, said: "The sharp increases in employment have come in particular from those in poorer areas, and for those who have lower levels of education, suggesting that without a State Pension they cannot afford to retire." In general, more than nine in 10 65-year-olds do not change whether they are in paid work at age 65 purely because of the higher State Pension age, it added.