The number of people aged over 70 who are still working has more than doubled in a decade to nearly half a million. Nearly one in 12 of those in their 70s are still working, a significant increase from the one in 22 working 10 years ago.
Catherine Seymour, head of policy at Independent Age pointed out that the rise in people working beyond 65 coincides with increases in pensioner poverty. “One in every six people – nearly two million – of pension age are now living in poverty and every day, another 226 people join that number,” she said.
“Many people who are now working in their late sixties and seventies are doing so out of necessity to pay the rent, heat their homes and afford their weekly shop,” she added. “Everyone who wants to should be able to retire from paid work at state pension age, and these figures suggest many people cannot afford that right.”
Nearly one in nine men aged 70 and over are currently working full or part-time: an increase of 137% over the past 10 years. Over three times more men aged 70 and above are working full-time compared with a decade ago: 113,513 up from 36,302 in 2009.
The number of women aged 70 and above who are still working has also more than doubled in a decade. Today, there are 175,000 women aged 70 and above in work: an increase of 131%.
In addition, the research found, there are currently more than 53,000 over 80s working in the UK, 25% of whom are working full-time.
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