In days gone by, workers looked forward to their retirement, planning on spending their pensions travelling and gaining new experiences which a 9 to 5 job did not afford them due to time constraints. However, it appears that this trend is now firmly a thing of the past with a record number of workers remaining in their roles past the pensionable age.
The number of people in work in the UK climbed to more than 30 million for the first time on record at the end of last year, with economists calling the rapid recovery of the labour market after several years of recession “incredible”. In the three months to December, employment rose by 250,000 to 30.09 million, with youth and private sector employment yielding especially strong results.
Much of the strong employment growth has been accredited to the large number of over 65s choosing to remain an active part of the work force, with one in ten workers of pensionable age now still economically active. According to data released by the Office for National Statistics, a record 1.1 million over 65s are currently employed or self-employed – an increase of 109,000 since the same period last year.
Furthermore, the percentage of workers aged between 50 and 65 also increased, this time to 68 per cent. This marks the highest proportion registered in the category since records began in 1992 and is an indicator of the prevailing need to earn later in life.
Pensions campaigner and ex-Downing Street advisor Ros Altmann says; “A social revolution is starting: people are no longer feeling old at 65.
“Part of it is down to the fact people are living longer, and they want to work, but part of it is also about trying to boost their pension.
“This trend will continue in the long run, and it’s probably good news as they will have more money in later life.”
Politicians and economists alike welcomed the rise in employment figures, although Labour leader Ed Miliband pointed out that British workers are yet to reap the benefits of an improving economy. Average wage rises remain stuck at 0.8 per cent, less than half the rate of inflation, and as such are preventing consumers from spending in earnest due to the need to keep a tight rein on household finances.
Regardless of this, the fact that unemployment fell by 99,000 to 2.37 million in the last quarter is certainly good news for the ongoing recovery within the UK economy. Royal Bank of Scotland UK economist Ross Walker believes that, while the figures seen at the end of last year may be difficult to beat, unemployment will continue to fall in 2014.
He says; “They are incredibly strong numbers, I don’t think there are any real chinks in the armour.
“I don’t think we will continue to see 250,000 jobs created every quarter, but if you are running at 150,000 that’s a sustainable pace of job creation and means the labour force is growing by 2 per cent a year.
“We could be at an unemployment rate of 7 per cent by the end of 2014.”
Do you think seasonal distortion played a big part in the impressive figures recorded in the last quarter?
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