In this briefing we explore what retired people miss about work, why people work for longer and why people retire when they do.
As we live longer it is likely many of us will have to work for longer. Our research Later Life in 2015 found that the social benefits of work are also important; work gives meaning and purpose, provides social contact and keeps us active. Working in later life has wider economic benefits; reducing welfare costs, increasing tax revenue to Government, as well as enabling individuals to save for retirement.
The Centre for Ageing Better commissioned Ipsos MORI to investigate happiness in later life and identify the factors that make for a good later life. A mixed methods approach was used, involving analysis of existing data to identify groups of people with similar experiences of later life, in-depth interviews and visits with people in each group, and a survey of people aged 50 and over in England.
This briefing outlines some of the findings from the survey data related to work and retirement.
In it we explore:
- What do retired people miss about work?
- Why do people work for longer?
- Why do people retire when they do?
