Phoenix Group’s Catherine Foot, Director of Phoenix Insights, Phoenix Group’s longevity think tank comments: “Increasing longevity demonstrates human ingenuity in healthcare, medical science, and technology. However, this report emphasises that our economic and social fabric doesn’t yet support longer lives, a concern which has been accelerated by decades of declining birth rates.
“An ageing population presents challenges in areas such as financial security, work, skills, health, caring and saving for retirement. In the workplace, more can and should be done to accommodate older people in the workforce – this research shows that internationally, up to a quarter (25%) of people aged 55 and over want to work as they get older but face barriers in doing so.
“The financial impact of leaving the workforce early cannot be overstated, with Phoenix Insights finding that the average wealth for 50-64 year olds who are economically inactive due to ill health is just £57,000, less than 5% of the average wealth of those who chose to retire early in the UK.”
“Creating opportunities for older workers to thrive in the workplace should be treated as a priority for our economy to adapt to our evolving global demographic reality. This report shows that in order to maintain the current balance between working-age and non-working-age populations globally, by 2050, retirement ages would need to increase by an estimated 8.4 years.”
“We need to make radical changes in areas such as financial education, work, skills, health and caring to transform the way we respond to the opportunities of people living longer lives. That means tackling the inequalities which across gender and socioeconomic classes. Better longer lives should not just be the preserve of the few, but a reality for everyone.”
|
