'In the age of hustle': People above the age of 50 choose to work rather than retire
People in their 50s are choose working instead of retiring
In thecurrent age of hustle, people over 50 years of agein the UK are embracing part-time work rather than opting for traditional retirement or pursuing full-time work.
According to the 2021 Office for National Statistics, a record 3.6 million people above the age of 50 are working part-time. In total, almost a quarter of people above the age of 50 work part-time and makeup about 42 per cent of thosechoosing not to work a full 40-hour work week, The Sunday Times reported.
Furthermore, the most recent census in 2021 showed that 3.4 per cent of over-50s who work part-time jobs are in some form of road transport, making it the sixth-most popular job in this age group.
Despite an increase in the employment rate among 50 to 64-year-olds, it is not yet back to pre-pandemic levels. Over the past year, the rate increased by 0.6 percentage points to 71.3 per cent, slightly below the 2019 record high of 72.5 per cent.
As per a study by the Resolution Foundation think tank, there are several considerable factors linked to this long rise in employment. The think tank suggested that the overall strength of the economy before the financial crisis, the rise of the service sector and tighter regulations for health-related retirement in public pension programmes have played key roles in keeping people working for longer.Many of those working have said thatretaining a work-life balance is the reason they continue to work.
Additionally, the good working hours among people have led to a rise in older people looking to take up truck driving. A recruitment agency named Manpower said that the proportion of applicants aged between 50 and 59 for its HGV driving bootcamp rose from 15 per cent to 19 per cent between 2022 and 2023.
(With inputs from agencies)
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