50+ back to work amid cost of living crisis

A study found that economic activity levels among the over-50s are at their highest since the pandemic began. Rest Less, which offers advice to older people, said its analysis of official statistics appears to show the first signs of a return to the long-term trend of more economically active people over the age of 50 – a decades-long trend which it said was reversed by the pandemic.
 
The analysis of Rest Less shows that there was an increase in economic activity (those in work or looking for work) of 116,000 among the over-50s in the past year. More than half of the increase was driven by men over the age of 65, said the report.
 
Rest Less chief executive Stuart Lewis said: “Older workers have been leaving the jobs market in their droves over the past two years, partly due to many re-evaluating what they want from their lives and careers during the course of the pandemic, but also due to the devastating impact the pandemic had on the prospects for many older job seekers, who felt they had no choice but to leave the workforce.
 
According to Lewis, “At the same time, with spiralling inflation and volatile financial markets impacting pension funds, some people who thought they could retire comfortably during the pandemic are now having to unretire and find work again to bring in some extra income and top up their pensions whilst they still can.”