The Office for National Statistics has released data showing women on average now stop working aged 65.1, up from 64.7 years in 2025, while the age at which men leave the labour market has stayed at 65.8 years. The findings come as a new report by the Fabian Society suggests the public wants state pension age increases to slow down.

 

The average age at which women retire from work has increased to the highest recorded level since annual reporting began in 1984 to 65.1 years, meaning women retire just under five months later on average. 

 

The increase comes against a backdrop of significant and relatively rapid rises in women's state pension age since 2010, and for women and men since 2018. The state pension age is currently rising to 67 and scheduled to increase to 68 by 2046. It is unclear if the government plans to bring this forward by seven years in line with a 2017 recommendation, which would affect most people born in the 1970s. 

 

These increases in the state pension age have influenced at what point workers take a step back. The age of exit fell in the second half of the 20th century but has gone up more recently. In 1950, men left the labour market on average aged 67.2, but in 1996, the average age at which men stopped working was at its lowest point of 63 years. Since then, the ONS says the average age at which people stop work has "fluctuated but shown a gradual upward trend". 

Rising longevity and a generous uprating mechanism have made the state pension an expensive benefit for taxpayers. However, a new survey of 4,000 adults commissioned by left-leaning thinktank the Fabian Society found seven in 10 think the government should ensure every pensioner can afford the basics for an acceptable quality of life.

The Fabian report found 64% think planned state pension age increases should stop or slow, while 57% think the state pension should be higher than it is today. The majority think the state pension should either keep pace with wages (68%) or increase more quickly (26%). There was also support for expanding auto-enrolment to low earners and the self-employed. 

“As the population ages, government will face difficult choices about how retirement is funded. These findings show there is broad public support for a pensions system that provides security now and gives younger generations confidence about their own future," said Sasjkia Otto, senior researcher at the Fabian Society and lead author of the report. 

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said the research shows the public want government to act on state and workplace pensions. 

“And we can’t ignore the effects of a rising state pension age. Almost two-thirds want increases to slow or stop, with those on the lowest incomes the most worried about the impact of further hikes," he said. 

Nowak called on the Pensions Commission to be ambitious in its recommendations to government next year. 

The research highlights growing concern that younger generations may not enjoy the same retirement security as today's pensioners, noted head of pensions policy innovation at Hymans Robertson, Calum Cooper. 

"The real challenge for policymakers is not simply how we share the costs of an ageing society, but how we unlock the full potential of pensions to deliver better outcomes. We have built a powerful workplace pension system through automatic enrolment, but there is still much more we can do to help people achieve financial security in later life," he said. 

As people need to wait longer until they receive income from the state, some have warned that not everyone can work into their late 60s. Recent increases have pushed up the poverty rate among 65-year-olds, which more than doubled. 

There are also concerns about economic inactivity rates among the over-50s, with nearly a million people unable to work - the ONS states there are 866,000 inactive people aged 50 to 64 who want to work but do not, most commonly because they are sick, injured or disabled.

  

“Among economically inactive and unemployed people who had worked in the previous eight years, when they were asked why they left their last job, sickness was the second most common reason – after retirement," with women more affected than men, noted Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at investment platform AJ Bell. 

  

“Caring responsibilities also hit hard at this age, with many inactive people classing themselves as ‘looking after home and family’," said Coles. "Many people will end up looking after a parent, partner or grandchild. Some will stop work to care and then struggle to re-enter the workforce." 

  

Again, women are far more likely to be affected, at 22% compared with 9% of men. Coles cited AJ Bell findings that 47% of women and 40% of men said it was harder to find a job in mid-life than it had been earlier in their career.