Two out of three expect to work beyond 65

New research from Portus, the employment benefits consultancy firm, reveals that 66% of the British working population expects to work beyond 65. Just over one in 10 (11%) anticipate they will be working beyond 76, or will never retire.

In addition:
• 74% of those who expect to be working beyond 65 say it will be because they will not be able to afford to retire
• 13% will carry on working to provide financial support to their children
• Only 7% of the British workforce is ‘very confident’ they will have adequate income in retirement
• One in five recruitment consultants expects 20% of the UK workforce to be aged 65 and over by 2020.

The main reason for working beyond 65 – cited by 74% of those who anticipate they will do this – is that they don’t think they will have enough money to live on. Some 13% believe it will be because they will have to provide financial support to their children and 4% say they will be helping grandchildren.

Portus’s research shows that 50% of those people aged 65 and over who are still working are doing so because they do not have enough money to live on, while 22% are working to help children and 6% are still in jobs to help fund grandchildren.

Around two out of five (42%) of workers believe they will have adequate income during their retirement. However just 7% are very confident, while one in 10 (10%) are ‘very unconfident’ they will.

Despite the retirement gloom just over one in four of those who expect to work beyond 65 (26%) say they will do this because they enjoy working and don’t want to get bored if they stop.