Two tentative conclusions can be drawn from the figures on working beyond 65 just released by the Office for National Statistics, one negative and one positive. The negative conclusion would be that the doubling since 2000 of the number of people working, either full-time or part-time, past what has been the state pensionable age reflects need rather than inclination. But the figures can also be interpreted in a more positive light. The likelihood is that a good proportion of the new over-65 earners are working because they want to. The big concern was that planned rises in the pensionable age and the abolition of a statutory retirement age would leave people in a double bind: on the one hand they would have to wait longer for their pension; on the other, they would find it nigh-on impossible to find employment because of ingrained age discrimination.
The Independent, March 2011
Read this article in full
here.