Carry on Working
The number of over-65s in work has risen to nearly 1 million.
Recent figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that there were 900,000 people working beyond the state pension age in the three months to January 2011. This figure has raised by 56,000 from the previous quarter, suggesting that an increasing number of people cannot afford to retire in the current climate.
The growth in figures represents a 16.9% jump year-on-year and a 6.6% rise in the last three months – the highest since records began in 1992. The latest stats also showed a record number of 50-64 year olds in work – up by 25,000 to 7.3 million. Whilst the rise in older people working may be down to the current economic climate, the increase may be due to an increasingly aging population, with people living longer and therewore working till later in life.
More and more people are working on past the retirement age
According to labour market experts, the rise in older workers has “driven entirely” the slight increase in employment figures.
In contrast to the rise in older people working, youth unemployment grew again, rising to its highest level in a decade and a half. This meant the slight growth in overall employment figures announced by the ONS did not improve the overall unemployment picture as most of the increase was due to people working beyond retirement age.
During the last period for statistics, public sector employment fell by 45,000 to 6.2m, even before the full impact of the Government’s spending cuts come into force. There were half a million jobs advertised in the 3 months to February, up by 24,000 from the previous quarter, however that figure included 29,000 temporary jobs for this year’s census.