
Source ONS 11/9/2018
The latest unemployment figures, for the May to July 2018 period, showed the employment rate for those aged 16-64 was 75.5%, slightly lower than in the previous three months, but up 0.2% year-on-year. A closer look at the figures shows that the total numbers employed rose by 261,000 between May-July 2017 and May-July 2018. Of this increase, 99,000 were aged 65 and over – an annual increase of 8.5% in the employed over age 65.
Drill further into the data and, as the graph above shows, the overall increase in workers aged 65 and over is being driven by a growth in the number of women working into (theoretical) retirement. This hit a record level of 8.1% in the latest period: ten years ago, it was only 6.4%.
The graph shows a clear upward drift for both sexes from the start of the millennium. There are many reasons behind this trend, but one is undoubtedly that some people are having to work to finance their lifestyle, a point worth making to any client reluctant to review their pension provision.