29 May 2009
By Vivienne Russell
The state retirement age should be swept away as part of a package of measures to keep older people in the workforce, campaigners said this week.
A survey by Age Concern and Help the Aged, released on May 26, showed that more than a quarter of people aged over 50 feared they would be forced out of a job if their employer decided to cut the number of staff.
Older people’s worries have been compounded by the falling value of pensions. Almost half of respondents to the charity’s survey (47%) said they were less confident than six months ago that their pension would provide them with a comfortable standard of living in retirement.
Michelle Mitchell, charity director for Age Concern and Help the Aged, said: ‘These figures paint an extremely bleak picture for millions of over-50s whose working lives are at risk of being cut short by the recession.
‘Those who do lose their jobs will face significant obstacles to getting back into work, leaving them financially vulnerable as they approach retirement. For many over-50s, one of the lasting legacies of this recession will be a retirement blighted by poverty.’
The charity called on the government to allow people to continue to work beyond the default retirement age of 65.
It also called for financial incentives for employers who take on workers over the age of 50 and a specialised package of support for older unemployed people.
Mitchell said this kind of tailored support was currently ‘almost non-existent’.
