Public Services Lab Blog

Re-thinking retirement

23.07.2009

By 2015, the average length of retirement will be 25 years. In the current economic context and amidst increasing strains on welfare services, this is unsustainable. We need to re-think retirement.

The oldest person on record lived to the grand age of 122.  If the current rise in life expectancy continues, living to such ages in the future will be less exceptional.  One in four children born today will live to be a 100. This means that there are a group of people retiring today in the UK, who could still be drawing their pension in the 2070s. 

An ageing society presents challenges to the modern notion of retirement. By 2015, the average length of retirement will be 25 years. In the current economic context and amidst increasing strains on welfare services, this is unsustainable. We need to re-think retirement. 

Half of retired people would have liked to have carried on working for longer. Employment offers the opportunity to work towards something, to give something back, develop new skills, to continue to be stimulated, remain active and stay networked. 

Financial reasons are only one part of the story. But employment at an older age could look very different. People want more autonomy, to work part time, work flexibly and occupy less stressful roles. Interestingly, the desire to keep on working increases the closer people get to retirement, but for many, making this decision then can come too late. 

Reaching retirement age ought not to mean reaching a watershed, going from working full time one day to retirement the next. After the initial euphoria of free time and the classic trip of a lifetime is concluded, the stretch of time beyond can be daunting.

The accelerated DWP review of the default retirement age will only be one part of the solution. To re-think retirement, new types of services and support will be needed to empower older people when planning for the transition from a working life into something that has a mixture of paid work, other stimulating opportunities and leisure. 

And re-thinking retirement cannot just be the responsibility of government. It will require individuals, employers, intermediaries and the third sector to change attitudes and behaviours and work together to co-produce inspirational and impactful solutions. To be successful, these solutions need to be centred on existing and prospective users themselves. 

NESTA's Age Unlimited programme will look to show the way by experimenting with a collection of ideas that could re-think retirement.