MORE than a million pensioners are now employed in the UK, with figures showing that the number of over-65s staying in employment has increased dramatically in recent years.
They show the number of older workers has risen from 800,000 to 1.068 million since May 2010, meaning one in 10 members of this age group is now in a job.
Pensioners who work say it helps them enjoy life better and also puts them in touch with people from other age groups they would not normally be in contact with.
But some also say they need to keep working to help top up pensions that have come under strain amid a rising cost of living.
The figures, from older people's services group Saga, show the number of pensioners in the workplace is at its highest rate since comparable records began in 1992.
Pensioners now make up 3.5% of the UK's workforce, while the employment rate for 50 to 64-year-olds is also at a record 68%.
However, Saga spokesman Tim Pethick said that even though more older people were taking up jobs or staying on in the workplace, they were not squeezing younger people out of the workplace.
He said: "Employment is not a zero-sum game, even though the number of over-50s in work is rising faster than the other age groups.
"The number of employed over-50s remains far lower than the number of employed 16 to 49-year-olds, and for older people, once they become unemployed, they find it much harder than other age groups to get back into work.
"Our research has shown that while some people have had to continue working longer than they might otherwise have planned, 88% have done so because they enjoy working and feel they benefit from the social interaction with other age groups."
Older people are more likely to get trapped in long-term unemployment than their younger colleagues if they lose their jobs, said the report.
It also revealed the total number of workers over the age of 50 has been steadily rising, from just over eight million when the current Government was formed in 2010, to almost 8.9m by October this year.
Kay Quinn, 67, from Edinburgh, has worked at the Sainsbury's store at Cameron Toll for 22 years. She said staying in her job had helped keep her fit and healthy.
She said: "I joined Sainsbury's for a part-time job 22 years ago. I loved it so much I stayed on, got extra training and am now a team leader overseeing a large number of colleagues on our checkouts.
"I am known as Auntie Kay in the store because I am often giving younger members of the team advice or help when they need it. My job is really important to me because I have never been one to sit still."
An Age Scotland spokesman said: "Many people already work on well into their 70s. With the default retirement age now abolished, and a steadily ageing population, it is clear more and more workplaces are benefitting from having older staff, with all the maturity and experience they bring.
"By keeping on working, older people who want to can stay active and interact with colleagues. However, some people feel compelled to work on longer to make up pension contributions and keep up their standard of living."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article