Number Of Working UK People Over 70 More Than Doubled In Last 10 Years – Analysis

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik -) The number of people aged 70 and older who continue to work after retirement in the United Kingdom has increased 135 percent since 2009, a fresh analysis by the Rest Less membership community released on Monday showed.

“In bespoke data provided to Rest Less by the Office for National Statistics, Rest Less’s analysis found that the number of over 70s in full or part-time employment has been steadily rising year on year over the past 10 years, reaching a peak of 497,946 in the first quarter of this year an increase of 286,000 or 135 per cent since 2009. Today, nearly 1 in 12 (8.1%) of those in their 70s are working, a significant increase from the 1 in 22 (4.5%) there were 10 years ago,” Rest Less said in a press release.

The analysis also found that more than 53,000 people in their 80s and above continued to work, 75 percent of whom had part-time jobs.

The statement noted, citing Rest Less founder Stuart Lewis, that the desire to increase savings, and stay active and socially connected were the reasons for people over 70 to keep working beyond the state pension age.

At the same time, Senior Program Manager of Center for Ageing Better Patrick Thomson said, as cited by the press release, that there was a shortage of young people who could replace those who were close to their retirement age. According to Thomson, it is essential for UK employers to adopt age-friendly practices, including flexible working hours, “to enable people to work for as long as they want.