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03 Feb 2011

Average retirement ages increase as older employees stay in the workplace

Average retirement ages increase as older employees stay in the workplace

"Yesterday, the Office for National Statistics published new estimates of the "average age of withdrawal from the labour market" for the UK. The data published shows that the average age at which men and women stopped working rose from 63.8 to 64.5 and 61.2 to 62 respectively between 2004 and 2009. In addition, the percentage of men working past the age of 65 has increased from 7-8% during the 1990s to 11.7% during September-November 2010. The percentage of women working past the age of 60 has also increased from 7.8 in 1993 to 13.5% in July-November 2010.

"These statistics are unsurprising given the increasing age of the UK population and mounting concerns over pension inadequacies and I think that this trend is set to continue over the next decade. The abolition of the default retirement age and gradual increases to the state pension age will undoubtedly also contribute to this upwards trend. Employers do need to be prepared for increasing numbers of older workers in the workplace and the consequent issue of managing succession and retirement without falling foul of age discrimination legislation."

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