Working in Old Age in the UK

Abstract

In summer of 2013, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a record of more than one million people aged 65 or more being in employment in the UK. This represents a doubling relative to 1992 (when ONS began recording this statistic) and means almost one in ten people aged over 65 are employed. Part of the growth can simply be ascribed to demographics (a growing elderly population). Against the upward trend, we should also note a historical decline in work at older ages dating from the 1970s. Using data from the UK Labour Force Survey (LFS) and based on the statistical decomposition proposed by Blundell, Bozio and Laroque (2013), we examine the trends for working in old age between 1975 and 2012. We seek to contrast the increased prevalence of working in old age seen since the early 2000s with the historical decline in later-life employment from the mid-1970s; and to understand how these trends have been driven by:a. Participation in the labour market – the decision on whether to work.b. The number of hours worked by the employed – the intensity of work and the extent of part-time employment.Average hours worked in the economy can then change due to new trends in labour force participation or in the number of hours worked per employee. Whether the increase in employment of the elderly is having as dramatic an impact on the economy as the figures above suggest, depends on the intensity of work.