UK - The average age of employees over the age of 50 who withdraw from the workforce and retire has increased to 64.6 years for men and 61.9 years for women, latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) have revealed.

Updated data in the 'Pensions Trend' series showed in April to June 2008 the employment rate for men was highest in those aged between 25-49 years, at 87.1-90%, although this fell back to just 58.4% of men in the of 60-64 age bracket - the group just shy of the state retirement age.

In contrast, women aged between 40-54 had the highest employment rate at 76.3-79.2%, while in the five years before becoming eligible for the state pension at 60 the employment rate fell only slightly to 63.9%.

The figures also showed more women have tended to continue working past state pension age, as only 10.7% of men over the age of 65 were in employment, compared with 12.4% of women over the age of 60.

In addition, the ONS showed one of the greatest increases in employment rates is for women aged between 50-60, which has risen from 59% in early 1992 to more than 70% in 2008, while the percentage of women working past state pension age has also risen significantly in the last decade from 7.7% in 1998 to 12.4%.

The ONS pointed out labour force participation is important to pensions as people need to build up pensions and savings and accumulate rights to the state pension, however in the three months to July 2008 only 74.7% of the working age population was in employment.

Findings from the research revealed the majority of both men and women still retire at state pension age, however of those still working past the age of 60 or 65 the majority continue in part-time employment.

Men tend to make more of a dramatic transition as between the ages of 50-64 years, 64.5% of men were employed full-time, but after the age of 65 this dropped to 3.8% and 6.8% started working part-time, while the percentage of women employed full-time after the age of 60 is just 3.6%, and part-time work accounts for 8.6%.

The ONS admitted the difficulty in estimating the age at which people retire, but it warned an analysis of the average age of labour market withdrawal  "will be particularly important over the next few decades as the state pension age in the UK gradually increases" - from 60 to 65 for women between 2010 and 2020, and from 65 to 68 for both sexes between 2024 and 2046.

However as increases in longevity are placing pressure on people to work longer, the ONS figures showed in April-June 2008 the average labour market withdrawal age for men reached its highest level of 64.6 years, since data was first recorded in 1984.

In addition the average age at which women retire from the labour market has risen steadily from 60.7 years in 1984 to 61.9 years in April-June 2008, and although the ONS warned the rate of increase had slowed in recent years, it said it would be "interesting" to see the impact on the average age of withdrawal once the increase to women's state pension age takes affect.

Following the publication of the new figures, Watson Wyatt said the data provided evidence of a "clear trend towards later retirement", as the longer people are expected to live in retirement the more money they will need to support them

Paul Macro, a senior consultant at Watson Wyatt, said: "For a long time, it was a common belief that rising prosperity would allow each generation to retire earlier than their parents but reality has now bitten."

He claimed that for members of a final salary pension scheme, increased longevity is "largely the employer's problem. For everyone else, it means saving more or working longer" and as a result "we're now seeing more people continue to pay money into their pensions at ages more usually associated with drawing money out".

"The number of people working past state pension age has continued to rise even after overall employment levels started coming down this year, but it's still early days. Stock market falls will intensify the need for some people to postpone their retirement, but they could find it harder to hold on to their jobs in a recession," added Macro.

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