Almost 200k fewer over-50s in work
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The employment rate for older workers has fallen between December 2020 and February 2021, the Office for National Statistics has found.
Employees aged 50 years and over were also more likely to report working fewer hours than usual in the past week because of the coronavirus, potentially impacting retirement patterns.
Employees aged 50 years and over were also more likely to report working fewer hours than usual in the past week because of the coronavirus, potentially impacting retirement patterns.
The decline in employment for older workers was driven by those aged 50 to 54 years and by people 65 years and over; there was an overall seasonally adjusted net loss of 193,000 older workers, down to 10.5m from 10.7m.
This figure could increase further when furlough ends. Of 4.7 million furloughed employments, 27.9% (1.3m) are for people aged 50 and over. Some furloughs are expected to end in redundancy when the scheme is wound down.
Three in 10 of those aged 50 years and over on furlough think there is a 50% chance or more that they will lose their job when the furlough scheme ends, posing a problem as older people are less likely to be re-employed, and potentially forcing them into accessing their pensions.
Three in 10 of those aged 50 years and over on furlough think there is a 50% chance or more that they will lose their job when the furlough scheme ends, posing a problem as older people are less likely to be re-employed, and potentially forcing them into accessing their pensions.
Becky O’Connor, head of pensions and savings at investment platform interactive investor, said older people often plan to supplement retirement income with earnings from paid work for as long as they can continue to work.
“For nearly 200,000 older workers, the pandemic has brought an untimely end to this plan. This could mean greater dependence on pension pots to get by. However those pension pots might be limited, which could spell trouble for the older years, when working for extra income becomes much harder, if not impossible," she warned.
The firm's Great British Retirement Survey 2020 found that many older workers thought the pandemic would mean they would have to continue in paid work for longer; however, it also found that the number working past retirement age had dropped last year, from 25% to 23%.
