300,000 over-70s 'too poor to stop working'

300,000 pensioners aged 70 and over are still working as they are ‘too poor to stop’

• Many women in 70s are cleaning people’s homes or offices
• ONS study relates to 193,000 men and 111,000 women

By BECKY BARROW
PUBLISHED: 11:00, 27 February 2013 | UPDATED: 13:33, 27 February 2013

Many women in their 70s are cleaning people’s homes or local offices, or sitting behind the tills at their local supermarket (posed by model)

 

More than 300,000 people who are aged 70 and above have a job, with many blaming the fact they are too poor to stop working, official figures revealed yesterday.

 
The ballooning number of older workers highlights a social revolution in Britain with people forced to work at an age when many assume they would have stopped years ago.

 
The figures, compiled exclusively for the Daily Mail by the Office for National Statistics, shows 193,000 men and 111,000 women are still working at the age of 70 and over.

 
The National Pensioners’ Convention warns the majority are ‘ordinary, working-class people who are having to take jobs because they can’t make ends meet any other way.’

 
A spokesman added: ‘Anecdotally, they are not exactly doing jobs like becoming the Governor of the Bank of England.’

 
The ONS’s research also reveals a clear gap between the types of job that older men are doing compared to those that women are doing if they are still working in their sixties.

 
For older men, the most common jobs are managers, directors and senior officials. For women, they tend to do more low-skilled jobs, such as being a cleaner or a secretary.

 
It comes as a report, also published by the ONS, shatters the traditional dream of retiring at the age of 65 with a comfortable pension and dreams of foreign travel.

In reality, many women in their 70s are cleaning people’s homes or the local offices, or sitting behind the tills at their local supermarket.

More than a third of men and nearly a quarter of women ‘stopped working after the age of 65’, it said.

While the majority work part-time, around a third of people who are still working after State pension age are ‘employed full-time’, according to the ONS.

At present, a man reaches State pension age when he is 65 and a woman currently reaches State pension age at the age of 61 and six months.

 
But both these ages are being increased. By 2020, the State pension age for both men and women will be 66, rising to 67 by 2028 – and it will keep on rising to 68 and beyond.

 
For many pensioners, it is a positive choice. They enjoy their job, find it satisfying and are also keen to remain active in their old age.

 
But many others are being forced into working – or even going back to work after retiring – because they simply cannot afford to stop.

The self-employed make up a greater proportion of the workforce post-retirement than pre-retirement (left), while the retirement age has been steadily rising since the turn of the century

 

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: ‘Given more of us are living longer, it’s important people can choose to work for longer and fund their retirement.

 
‘That’s why we made it illegal to sack someone just because they reached the age of 65.’

 
Keith Simpson, chief executive of Skilled People, a recruitment website for people over the age of 50, said he is ‘absolutely sure’ the trend of people delaying their retirement will increase.

 
He said: ‘We asked people if they will have to work beyond the age of 65 to enjoy a comfortable retirement. Nearly 70 per cent of people said “yes”.’

 
It comes as just a third of private sector workers are saving into a company pension. Of those who have one, it is typically worth just £26,000, which buys an annual income of just £850.

Graph showing the rise of older workers since the mid-1980s

 

New rules forcing bosses to pay into a pension for their workers are designed to stem the growing pensions crisis, with up to 11million workers being ‘auto-enrolled’ into a pension.

But a separate report, from the insurance firm Aviva, found 37 per cent of private sector workers will opt out and refuse to save into a pension.

 
It warned the success of the Government’s scheme ‘hangs in the balance as many workers focus on making ends meet in challenging economic times’.

 
The National Association of Pension Funds warned Britain is ‘miles off course when it comes to saving enough for its old age’.

 
Last night, a Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: ‘We have said we expect around a third of people to opt out of automatic enrolment.

‘Our ongoing advertising campaign is achieving high levels of awareness among employers and individuals of the need to put something aside so they can afford a decent quality of life in retirement.’

Daily Mail