Summary: Pension Trends – Chapter 4: The Labour Market and Retirement, 2013 Edition

Part of Pension Trends, Chapter 4: The Labour Market and Retirement, 2013 edition Release

Released: 26 February 2013 Download PDF

Employment status of older workers, April - June 2012

United Kingdom, percentages

Source: Labour Force Survey - Office for National Statistics

Notes:

SPA = State Pension Age; 65 for men and over 60 but under 62 for women depending on their date of birth.
Data not seasonally adjusted.

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A significant proportion of people (31.3%), who remained in employment at their State Pension Age (SPA) or above, were classified as self-employed in April-June 2012. This proportion is 2.3 times higher than was recorded in the 16-SPA age group, where self-employment only accounted for 13.5% of the total workforce.

For those who were employed after their SPA or above, for the first time there were more men (12.2%) working than women (11.6%). It may be due to the gradually increasing SPA of women but other factors might also be involved.

Men and women also carry out different types of work after their SPA. For men, the most common jobs include: managers, directors and senior officials; professional occupations; and the skilled trades. For women, the most common jobs were elementary occupations (such as cleaners), administrative positions and work within the professional occupations.

Source: Office for National Statistics

Background notes

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These National Statistics are produced to high professional standards and released according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

Further information

Pension Trends – Chapter 4: The Labour Market and Retirement, 2013 Edition - This chapter examines trends in labour market participation and the transition from work to retirement. Labour market activity is important in the context of pensions because earnings from employment help people to build savings and to make private pension contributions to fund their retirement. Employment also builds entitlement to state pension provision. Questions about pressures on pension adequacy and whether people are extending their working lives in response to increasing life expectancy is one reason why the transition from work to retirement is of interest. The chapter begins by looking at how the economic support ratio, a measure of the economic burden on working people, might be affected by the ageing of the UK population. It then examines changes in labour force participation over time, considers labour force participation of older age groups and examines trends in the average age of withdrawal from the labour market.