Now one in ten are working after age of 65

THE number of men and women working beyond their 65th birthday has more than quadrupled in the past 20 years, figures show.

Some 10 per cent of over-65s are now in work – a record 1.2million, up from 272,000 in 1997. The average age of retirement has also increased, with experts warning that working beyond the age of 70 would soon be the norm.

The Department for Work and Pensions report showed the number of over-50s in work was up from 6million two decades ago to more than 9.9million.

Record low interest rates, the demise of final-salary pension schemes, and rises in the state pension age are thought to have forced many workers to delay retirement.

Former pensions minister Ros Altmann warned that many who are not well enough to work have been left facing a life of poverty in retirement. She said: ‘If people want to carry on working and can then that is great, but there are people who can’t and it is a very serious problem.’

The average retirement age for men has risen by two years since 1997 to just over 65, while for women it has risen by three years to around 63-and-a-half.

In July ministers said that the state pension age would rise to 68 between 2037 and 2039 – rather than from 2044 as had been proposed originally. Analyst Tom Selby, of savings firm AJ Bell, said: ‘ Anyone who thinks retiring at 65 is a scary thought is in for a nasty shock.

‘The rise in average retirement ages is only going to accelerate in the decades to come as the state pension age increases further and the number of people retiring with generous defined benefit entitlements falls away.

The stark reality is that, if life expectancy keeps going up, many will be staring a retirement age of 70 or older square in the face.’

Pensions analyst Nathan Long, of Hargreaves Lansdown, said that the ‘abolition of a default retirement age’ was also a factor in the increase in older workers.

Employment minister Damian Hinds said: ‘As our workforce ages, these latest figures are a further demonstration of how people are also positively changing their attitudes to employment in later life.’

British Airways last night became the latest firm to close its lucrative final salary pension scheme – affecting 17,000 workers.