Comment from Aviva: “Early retirement” amongst women is falling seven times faster than men

• Recent trends indicate “early retirement” could become a thing of the past by 2029
• “Early retirement” amongst women falling seven times faster than men

July's official employment figures¹ show that 9.74m workers aged 50+ are now in employment. This is the biggest number since records began in 1992 and represents 31% of the UK’s employment workforce – up from 21% in 1992.

Too soon to judge Brexit impact

This data was collected prior to the EU referendum so it is premature to state what impact the referendum result is having on the labour market.

50+ age group to become the biggest cohort in 2024

Aviva’s analysis projects the age 50+ age group will hit 10m in 2018, and become the biggest cohort in May 2024, representing more than 1-in-3 workers.

The death of “early retirement” by 2029

Aviva’s analysis also shows the decline in workers aged 16 to 64 who define themselves as “retired”. This population of “early retirees” peaked at 1.6m in August 2011, but has since witnessed a continual decline, hitting less than 1.2m in today’s figures. “If" this decline was to continue, Aviva projects that there would be no people defined as “retired” in the 16 to 64 age bracket by 2029.

“Early retirement” amongst women falling seven times faster than men

Aviva’s analysis of the underlying data has identified that a leading driver of the demise of “early retirement” has been the decline in women retiring before the age of 65. The retired cohort of women in the 16-64 age group has fallen dramatically by 35%, from a peak of 1.11m in 2008 to 0.72m today. The retired cohort of men amongst the same age group has fallen by only 5% over the same period, from 0.45m to 0.42m.

This fast decline amongst women has largely been driven by the increase in their state pension age. Since 2010, the women’s state pension age has been rising from 60, to bring it in line with men. It is projected to reach parity with men, at 65, by 2018. The state pension ages for both women and men will then rise to 67 by 2028. Further increases are expected, to reflect increases in life expectancy across the UK. 

Commenting on the analysis, Alistair McQueen, Savings and Retirement manager at Aviva said: 

“When it comes to funding our longer lives in retirement, we have two options – save more or work longer. For many, the best response will be a mix of the two.

“Auto-enrolment into workplace pensions encourages us to save more, and more than six million new pension savers have joined the system since it was introduced in 2012.

“Our analysis suggests that we are also working longer. Over 50s will become the leading group of workers within the decade, and the idea of “early retirement” would be relegated to the dustbin of history if recent trends continued.

“The change in working lives is most exaggerated amongst women. There is a responsibility on all concerned to support all workers – women and men – adapt to this new, longer working life.”

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