Britain’s ‘great pensionlessness’: Cost of living is driving older people back to work | UK cost of living crisis

Rising inflation, volatile financial markets and rising costs of living are leading to the “great pensionlessness”, with research suggesting retirees are returning to work.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), more people aged 50 and over are employed or looking for work today than before the pandemic.

His analysis shows that last year there was a 116,000 increase in employment (people working or looking for work) among the over-50s.

More than half of the total increase is accounted for by men over 65 – whose employment has increased by 66,000 or 8.5% in one year – with 37,000 or 6.8% more women over 65 who have or are looking for work.

Experts say in-depth research suggests the rise is being driven by retired people returning to work rather than those working longer. “People who thought they could retire comfortably during the pandemic need to retire and find work again to earn extra income and top up their pensions while they still can,” said Stuart Lewis, the chief executive of Rest Less, one digital community for the over 50s.

“More and more retirees are feeling poorer than ever, consumer confidence is at record lows and spending power is falling every month,” he added. “All of this is driving the trend towards retirementlessness.”

Volatile financial markets created significant anxiety and uncertainty in people’s perceptions of their future retirement income, Lewis said. The one-time suspension of the state pension triple lock last April has meant that the state pension has risen by just 3.1%, while inflation rose by 9.4% in June. “It’s no surprise that people are looking for ways to generate additional income,” he added.

Caroline Abrahams, Age UK’s charity director, said it’s no wonder a significant number of pensioners are “struggling to get back to work to shore up their finances against the storm”.

“Judging from what we’re told at Age UK, a lot of older people are looking forward to winter with extreme trepidation,” she said. “With inflation high and rising, we can understand why: the prospect of having to afford to keep the heating on is really scary.

“Carefully planned retirement plans that looked economically viable a year ago are now being torn to pieces, and that’s a huge disappointment when you’ve been looking forward to rest and a chance to enjoy yourself after many years of work.”

Ros Altmann, the former pensions minister and fellow Conservative, said the government had wrongly scrapped promised pension protections. “Fear of inflation has caused a lot of concern, prompting some to return to work even if their health is not up to it,” she said.

Cora Adcock, a part-time music teacher who retired at 64, had to return to work at age 69 because her pension could not cover her increased living expenses.

Cora Adcock. Photo: Handout

“I just couldn’t cope financially with my state and teachers’ pensions, especially since I missed a few contribution years because I took time off when I was young to look after my kids,” she said.

Adcock found work playing the organ for up to 13 funerals a day at a local crematorium, but lost her job at the age of 71. Adcock is visually impaired and is still trying to find work. “I’m looking for work that I can’t really physically do because I’m so worried about the bills,” she said. “I’ve already cut everything I can. I don’t even use the oven.”

dr James Derounian, from Gloucestershire, recently returned to teaching at the age of 62, two years after retiring. “I had planned to retire, but life had other ideas,” he said. “The cost of living killed all my plans.”

Qualitative data from the ONS supports the notion that the figures reflect those coming out of retirement rather than simply continuing to look for work after age 65: It surveyed 12,000 people aged 50 to 70 who were not currently looking for work see if they would consider going back to work in the future. One in three of those aged 50 to 64 and one in ten of those aged 65 and over said they would.

The trend is also supported by a recent survey of retired Rest Less members, of whom 32% said they would consider returning to work or had already returned to work. Almost 70% of them said they “won’t retire” for purely or partly financial reasons.