According to an analysis of data from the Office of National Statistics, the number of working women aged 60 to 64 in the UK has increased by 51 percent over the last decade.
The rise in employment among older women is due to the increase in the state pension age for women to 65 in 2010, according to research from Rest Less, a jobs, volunteering and advice website for people over 50.
At the end of 2009, there were 644,674 working women aged between 60 and 64 years in employment; in the same period in 2019, their number was almost 1 million, according to the study.
In comparison, the number of working men of the same age increased by only 13 percent, or 127,882, during the same period.
This increase means that for the first time in the UK, more women aged 60 to 64 are in employment than not.
Read more: Number of older workers in the UK is increasing
Research shows that helping people aged 50 and over to stay in work could add an additional 1.3 percent to GDP per year by 2040.
The huge increase is “a seismic shift with profound consequences for the economy and for women in later life,” said Patrick Thompson of the Centre for Ageing Better.
“For many women, this will be a positive decision as work offers them financial independence, the opportunity to save for retirement, meaning and purpose.
For some women, however, staying in work longer is a response to the fear of falling into poverty in retirement. For some, this is “the culmination of the inequalities that have built up over a lifetime. They stay in low-paying, insecure or low-quality jobs and delay their retirement for financial reasons,” says Thompson.
Stuart Lewis, founder of Rest Less, said: “The rapid increase in the state pension age for women since 2010 has had a profound impact on women in their sixties.
“The employment rate of women aged 60 to 64 has increased from 34% to 51% in just 10 years.
“Not only are many having to adjust to the financial impact of the new statutory retirement age, but they also continue to face challenges finding meaningful work over 60 as age discrimination in the workplace remains widespread.
“The demographic change in Britain only goes in one direction.
“Progressive employers who begin to consider age in the workplace by implementing programs to attract, engage and retain talented older workers will be the ones who succeed in the next decade.”
Read more: Gender pay gap affects Britain’s ranking of working women
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, told The Guardian: “We are calling on the government to ensure it takes into account the realities of middle-aged people’s lives before making decisions about further raising the state pension age.”
“Age UK firmly believes that the triple lock must remain in place because the task of eradicating pensioner poverty has not yet been accomplished. It is now rising again with two million older people living below the poverty line.”
