Pensioners staying in work drives up retirement income
The rise in the proportion of pensioners in employment accounts for a quarter of pensioner income growth, according to the Resolution Foundation.
Since 2001 average pensioner income has grown so that now a typical pensioner household is £20 a week better off than a typical working household.
In this time, the proportion of pensioner households in which at least one person works has increased from 12.5% to 20%.
Younger pensioners also have consistently higher incomes then their older counterparts, with those who turned 65 in 2001 seeing their income grow 7%, compared with a 30% across the general pensioner population.
Other findings:
- 74% of gross retirement employment income goes to the wealthiest 20% of pensioners
- 80% of gross self-employment income goes to the wealthiest 20%
- the poorest 20% of pensioner’s income comes almost exclusively from benefits
- workless pensioner households have seen their real income grow by 34% since 2001.
Adam Corlett, economic analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said:
“The main driver of pensioner income growth has been the arrival of successive new waves of pensioners, who are more likely to work, own their home and have generous private pension wealth than any previous generation.”
Older workers and the labour market
A survey of employees over the age of 50 by Aviva shows that the majority believe there are fewer employment opportunities due to their age.
In a survey of over 2,000 employees aged over 50 found that:
- 83% believe there are fewer opportunities open to them
- 88% believe they have more skills that their younger counterparts
- 79% were less inclined to try and find a new job
- 64% will have to work for longer than they had originally planned.
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