Age concerns
26 May 09
Older workers are ready to keep going past a conventional retirement age, but will employers wake up and realise what they have to offer?
A Financial Times/Harris survey of 1,126 adults in Britain found that 60 per cent of respondents would support working beyond the current state pension age in order to receive a bigger pension (see News, 26 May 2009).
Longer working lives could be a solution for the state’s finances as well as for those of individuals. The National Institute for Economic and Social Research recently estimated that adding five years to working lives by raising state social security ages could help the UK return to a level of debt below the “golden rule” of 40 per cent of gross domestic product by 2023.
It makes sense that improved health care and living conditions mean that people not only live longer, but also stay fit and healthy for longer. Also, with the slump in asset values, many pensioners (or those who soon will be) are increasingly concerned that their retirement provision may not be enough.
Demographic and economic imperatives alike seem to be pointing away from an arbitrary “retire at 65” rule.
The question is whether employers, who are far too often reluctant to take on older workers, can change their mindsets as radically as individuals themselves seem to be doing.