The joy of going back to work
New research has found more retirees are going back to work. Joe Shute talks to some of them
In January 2016, Inspector Brendan Mccambridge retired from the British Transport Police after 26 years of loyal service. He was present at the Paddington rail disaster and the 7/7 bombings, receiving a bravery commendation for searching for secondary devices among the dead at King’s Cross station.
The grandfather-of-two’s retirement plan was straight out of the pages of Saga magazine: redecorate the house; spend time with Lesley, his wife of 15 years; buy a boat and while away happy days fishing for rainbow trout. But after only a few months of this restful bliss, he hit a snag.
“The walls close in, they really do,” says Mccambridge, 56, who lives near Wokingham in Berkshire. “I found I was missing out on the camaraderie. You feel old before your time.”
He found himself sitting at home, bored, waiting for his wife to return from her job as a care home manager.
And so, Mccambridge did something ever more retirees are now choosing to do: he went back to work.
A study published last week in the journal Ageing and Society by researchers at King’s College London and the University of Manchester, has found a quarter of British workers change their minds once they have given up their careers and “unretire”.
According to the study, most unretirees decide to go back to work within the first five years of retirement. Men were more likely to unretire than women, and previous research suggests those who unretire do so for social reasons rather than a need to improve their finances.
Some discover that being considered a limitless source of free childcare for grandchildren is far more anxiety-inducing than any boardroom presentation. Others feel they have lost part of their identity.
So it was for Mccambridge, who in June 2016 applied for a customer services job at Waitrose in Henley.
Now he does about 30 hours a week and takes home just over £1,000 a month on top of his pension. “My wife calls it our holiday fund,” he says. “For her it’s great, she has the old me back. When I was sitting around at home I would just get grumpy. I’ve also lost 5st. This is like a vitality camp for me.”
Britain’s rapidly ageing population has long been a cause of concern for economists. By 2019, there will be 290 people of pensionable age per 1,000 of working age; by 2039 this number will have increased to 370.
Professor Karen Glaser, a specialist in gerontology at King’s College London and one of the authors of the study, says the research highlights that recently retired people represent a vital and currently untapped resource of potential labour.
“There is a labour shortage,” she says. “What our work shows is this willing and able pool of people that really does want to stay working.”
Jim Baker is a 69-year-old chemistry teacher who officially retired in 2008 from Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School after 38 years. However, in 2009, he was one of 50 people nationwide recruited by the Government to act as mentors for newly qualified teachers.
Since then, the married father-oftwo has continued to work as a teacher, trainer and consultant.
“It’s important to keep the mind active, but I also wanted to stay in the classroom,” he says.
As he approaches 70, he insists he has no intention of crossing his name off the chalkboard.
“I don’t think I will ever retire,” he says. “While I can still do it, I will.”