Employment and retirement of older workers in the UK

Flynn, M; Li, Y

doi:10.1057/978-1-137-56697-3_10

Employment and retirement of older workers in the UK

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Matt Flynn

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Abstract

© The Author(s) 2016. This chapter investigates public and employer policies in the liberal residual welfare state of the United Kingdom (UK). Unlike other European countries, the UK does not have a recent history of state-sponsored early retirement incentives. Older male participation rates bottomed out in the early 1990s as the economy transitioned to one which is service industry led, but since the turn of the millennium, older worker participation rates have been rising, especially amongst those 65+. Employment laws such as regulations prohibiting workplace age discrimination, abolishing mandatory retirement, and extending the right to request flexible working to all workers have opened y opportunities for older people. The state pension is residual and there are extensive gaps in second-tier pension coverage, thus compelling older people to extend working life for financial reasons.