After a record number of people aged 50 and over in the UK left the workforce as a result of the pandemic, the trend has begun to reverse as the cost of living crisis has forced some to reconsider early retirement.
A report by the Lords economic affairs committee this week said earlier retirement among 50- to 64-year-olds was the biggest contributor to the increase in economic inactivity of 565,000 UK citizens since the start of the pandemic. Peers said this trend puts the economy at risk of weaker growth and persistently higher inflation.
Four people share what made them start working again, sometimes after a break of several years and in a different position, and how long they hope to remain economically active.
“I didn’t go back to work because the chancellor wanted to”
Dave, from Southport, took voluntary redundancy from Royal Mail when he was 60. Photo: Dave
Dave, 63, from Southport, Merseyside, retired aged 60 after 33 years at Royal Mail, just before the pandemic began. “I left voluntarily and the plan was to do something else for a few years, have fun,” he says.
“The Royal Mail pension is OK but not enough for everyday life and holidays or night outs. So about a year and a half ago I realized I could do with another £500 a month and went back to work looking after a children’s home as and when they needed me.’
Initially only using the extra income as a welcome top-up, Dave realized he couldn’t cover more living expenses, like utilities, without tapping into his savings when those hours dried up. Last month, he started working part-time in a call center on the patient claims line of a medical malpractice law firm.
“I do 17.5 hours a week, they gave me days I liked, it’s really flexible. It brings me another £500 to £600 which is more than nice to have at the moment, it’s a requirement.’
Dave says the Chancellor’s concern about the hundreds of thousands of working-age Britons who have left the workforce has not influenced his decision to become economically active again.
“I went back to work mainly because of the cost of living, it was a personal choice based on personal circumstances. I plan to work at least until I am 66, when I will be entitled to a state pension. Then I will make a decision whether to continue working or not.
“I found my niche at 59”
Nicky Dalglish took a 15-year career break when he had children. Photo: Nicky Dalglish
Nikki Dalglish started working again four years ago after her husband was made redundant. The 63-year-old, who works in the charity sector in London, previously worked as an administrative assistant in investment banking and stopped working for 15 years when she had children. “It became clear to me that I had to make a contribution, even though the charity wage was minimum wage,” she says.
She now works as a project manager for a program working with asylum seekers and refugees, a role she enjoys. She emphasizes that returning to the workforce can be particularly challenging for women. “After 15 years as a stay-at-home mom, it was a challenge to go back to work at 59. Most people have written you off.
“It was really scary and daunting to begin with – I was so worried about the advancements in technology in my absence. But everything was fine and I’ve been promoted several times since then,” she says. “Going from the challenge of not having confidence to feeling in control is amazing.”
Dalglish took up work again mainly for economic reasons and thought she had left the world of work for good when she left investment banking nearly two decades ago. “I had no plans to come back – I had my first child at 41. There was no way I thought I would come back.”
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She now works three days a week and says she “can’t think of quitting [her job]”. “It’s crossed the lines of economics – I’m so invested in it,” she says, adding that she wishes she’d been in the charity sector from the start of her professional life: “It’s like I found my niche at 59.”
“My confidence is back”
David, 62, a data manager in London, returned to work this year after a three-year career break that began when he was made redundant from his City job in 2019. He now works three days a week for a charity, and volunteers at food bank once a week.
“[My City role] it was well paid and I was able to live off the redundancy money for a while, especially when my wife was working,” he says, adding that he initially enjoyed having more time for long walks, going to the cinema and seeing friends. “But after a few months, the novelty of having time to myself wore off and I began to feel isolated, under-stimulated and guilty for not contributing financially. The pandemic has clearly exacerbated this.”
He also wasn’t financially ready to retire for good. “I’m not in a particularly dire financial situation, but it makes it easier to work part-time. I don’t earn much, but enough to have enough every day and be financially independent,” he says. He plans to continue working until the age of 67.
David says his role in the charity sector has boosted his confidence and he hopes to continue volunteering after retirement. “I completely support [the charity’s] goals, enjoy the work and love the people here. I feel valued and my self-esteem is back.”
“I needed the money”
After a career in social care, Elizabeth Bradley, from Somerset, left the workforce in her late 50s, disheartened by the impact of local authority cuts. “I worked for the county council in aged care at the height of austerity – it was just too much to carry on in that role,” says Bradley, now 64.
She spent some time traveling around New Zealand and Australia, but when Covid hit she started to feel unfulfilled. “At that point I didn’t feel like I had enough in my life – I was bored. I missed that workplace camaraderie and social interaction, not just because of Covid because I wasn’t working. I needed to have a purpose in life and I needed the income factor to motivate me,” she says.
Bradley joined the workforce a year ago, becoming a charity support worker – a role she says she really enjoys. Although she made the decision because she wants to work again, she says the cost of living crisis has now made it a financial imperative. “Until the cost of living crisis, finances were manageable – but they certainly wouldn’t be now. It became clear very quickly that I needed the money.”
She works up to 35 hours a week, including overtime, and plans to continue working for many years to come. “I’d like to think I can go on as long as I can still offer what I do in the workplace. I can see myself working until I’m 70, if not longer.”
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