One million more women are clocking on for work

A MILLION women have joined the workforce in just five years as the rising state pension age encourages more older women to find jobs, official figures reveal.

The total number of working women is now at a record high of 1 .7million, with those aged 50 to 6 jumping by 3.1 per cent to 3.9million in the year to November. There were also 82,000 women over 65 in work, a rise of 5.3 per cent, Office for National Statistics figures showed.

Pensions Minister Baroness Altmann said: ‘It’s clear employers are changing their attitudes to older workers and taking advantage of the excellent skills and experience that they can bring to the workplace.’

But Anne Keen, of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign, said many who had expected to retire at 60 may be taking low-level jobs while they wait to reach the new state pension age of 63. She added: ‘If they are in work, it may well be in a lower-paid job.’

ONS figures also showed increasing numbers of women are choosing to run their own businesses, with nearly 1.5million women of all ages listed as self-employed – an increase of 2.6 per cent in a year. The number of stay-at-home mothers has dropped by 3.1 per cent in a year and is hovering at a record low of around 2million.