Who are all these ‘economically inactive’ 50 year olds

[Orangetapemeasure]

The government is trying to encourage 300000 or so ‘economically inactive’ 50+ year olds back to work. Who are these people and what do they do?
I can imagine some people in their 60s deciding to retire early, but I don’t know a single 50 year old who has or could afford to give up work. In fact I know several previously SAHM who are only launching their careers in their mid 40s. I’m mid 40s with a good 15-20 years left to work.
MN please enlighten me.

Most of my friends retired at 55 (teachers and nurses) on decent pensions. I don't work at 63, having got fed up with piss-taking employers. I'm looking for paid work still though. I have other income and assets. I'm in good health.

Another friend is in poor health, another is 77 and still working.

DP is 62 and has no intention of retiring.

@picklemewalnuts
Crucially quality of work has changed- every job is so efficient now- no down time, intense from the moment you start to the moment you finish. DH is on calls all day, barely gets to wee/make a drink.

People burn out and get fed up more quickly.

This really resonates - I’m mid 40’s and work “part time” which is paid for 32 h a week, average about 40h I think which is a great step down for the paid for 35/worked 50 stage in my twenties and thirties I suppose but still hardly ‘part time’. I also have two primary age kids, a house to run and elderly parents on both sides. It’s bloody hard work.

On my workdays (wfh 2 days office 2 days) I don’t stop, it’s back to back meeting’s, fires to put out, new things to decipher and investigate and learn. I really don’t know how I can sustain this pace into my older years - I hope I can but realistically I think something will have to change and I don’t know what.

^This . They did a study on why this cohort has high unemployment and vast majority were either forced to retire early due to disability/poor health or are too unwell to work while on NHS waitlists especially for orthopaedics surgeries for knees, back, & hips. The second largest group were being unpaid carers of elderly parents or disabled children/grand children.

The rate is 50 somethings actually retiring early by choice is the lowest it has been in decades due to the cost of living crisis.

The Tory idea that it’s a bunch of well off 50 somethings deciding to golf all day instead of work is really a function of the privileged and wealthy bubble they live in.

I know a few people who have retired from various public services but who have then gone on to get other jobs. Although my neighbour just works sporadically after his retirement from the Police.

We'll be still paying tax, but intend on spending and gifting most of our money to avoid inheritance tax etc.

which i get on a individual level but if everyone wants to try and avoid a penny of inheritance tax we are going to have even more inequality.

It's not like we are all going out for lunch and going on cruises.
We're doing lots of that already and got more planned. Not going to apologise either, we've worked for long enough,done our bit. As regards the economy, we're helping the travel and hospitality sector amongst other things. Not giving up our last decade or so of good years to work even more. Fuck that.

Fwiw when the government talks about the economically inactive 50 yo, they dont mean those who have enough money to live of savings/investments. They mean those people who claim benefits if different sorts.

See also the government wanting to push GP to stop giving sick notes. This doesn’t affect those in employments but also those trying to get benefits such as UC and ESA.

Oh and I'm 52 and would retire tomorrow if I could.

Pre pandemic I liked my job, we had a good team all based in the same office. Now it's hot desking and people are only in one or two days max a week.

We've also got an outsourcing model that makes no economic sense and completely ruins the work dynamic, and means there is undue pressure on the few permanent members of staff.

I mean it's tolerable, but if my financial situation changes I'd be off in a heartbeat.

@AvocadoPlant I doubt teachers are retiring that young - I don't get my pension until 67. I think police & fire can get a pension after 30 years so I guess if you started at 18 then you could retire at 48.

When I was growing up it was common for people my parents knew to retire at 55 with a pension - BT, teaching, British Gas, bank, police, nursing etc They could then get their occupational pension and work a couple of days a week. Women then got a state pension at 60 and men at 65. So ordinary people were able to retire a lot sooner.

Lots of women in the 70s & 80s never really worked. Nowadays the only women I know who are economically inactive either have a partner who earns good money or are on benefits.

I think people who are mid to late 50s were also able to buy houses that were more affordable.

I can't see my children actually getting a state pension so I will encourage them to start a pension or savings ASAP.

Economically inactive means.

People who aren’t actively jobseeking or in Employment ( employment that takes them off New style JSA or the intensive work regime commitment of UC)

It can apply to carers, lone parents, students, those with health related condition they means they have passed the work capability assessment and those on ESA.

I feel the need to point out current teachers won't be retiring at 50 on decent pensions. Whilst I don't deny it's a good scheme compared to many, after 10 years mine is worth about £5k a year so if I worked another 20 years to 55, it'd be worth around £15k a year. I don't really know what sort of pension pots people retire on but that doesn't sound like the gold-plated pension people imagine to me.

Agree a lot of over 50s do childcare. I imagine it'll be an issue when we are all working to 70 as who will provide the childcare then?

Economically inactive also relates to those not claiming benefits like UC because partner supporting them. Partner might be working or older and in receipt of a pension.

I might be being g stupid but why do they want them back in the workplace? If they're not buying stuff, fair enough but most people who retire mid 50s have a decent financial situation and spend money in the economy.

the labour market is tight which isn't helping inflation.

I think though the exodus has largely been driven by ill health which is panicking the gov.

@Maraudingmarauders

I might be being g stupid but why do they want them back in the workplace? If they're not buying stuff, fair enough but most people who retire mid 50s have a decent financial situation and spend money in the economy. Why do they need to be back in the workplace possibly blocking higher level jobs for people mid career?

There's a massive shortage of staff virtually everywhere at the moment and productivity/service levels are falling which is a disaster for the country and economy.

Huge numbers of people left the workforce due to covid restrictions which caused people to lose their jobs and businesses, or in essential industries, staff felt unsafe due to lack of precautions and left for their own protection, in some jobs, covid caused higher workloads, stress, etc meaning some workers had to leave for the sake of their own health/sanity even if in "covid safe" jobs such as WFH or behind closed doors.

"Tax the rich" policies meant higher earning people retired early and/or made it uneconomical to work extra shifts, IR35 caused a reduction in workers in "freelancer" work such as lorry drivers, doctors/dentists are forced to retire because their pension schemes are too high and they'd get punitive tax bills.

£15k pa pension at age 55 is pretty decent and more than most people will get from their non defined benefit schemes.

If you can afford not to work, why would you go back to work with the younger generation and their 23 genders and pronouns? If you can them then wrong thing you would get in trouble. Better to stick to gardening!

Hiya Victor!

I can't see my children actually getting a state pension so I will encourage them to start a pension or savings ASAP.

it's going to be a very different landscape for the younger generations

The majority of this group are those on ESA or UC and passed the LCWRA test.

The other majority are carers. Not all will even be claiming Carers allowance.

There's a massive shortage of staff virtually everywhere at the moment and productivity/service levels are falling which is a disaster for the country and economy.

tbf productivity has been shit for yrs. The economy is fucked now.

My friend stopped working at 50 but she doesn't class herself as retired as she might choose to re-enter the workforce in the future, although I doubt it personally! She paid her mortgage off a few years ago with some help from an inheritance then was made redundant from a fairly high-paying job and she'd been at the company for more than 20 years so her payout was hefty. She doesn't live an extravagant life and has no DC so her and her DH live quite comfortably and she very much enjoys life!

I know one wealthy person who retired mid-50s (happened to be during the pandemic, but unrelated to it as that was always his plan) and is no longer doing paid work - this campaign won't have any effect on him as this is his choice.

However, I also know two men in their late 40s / early 50s who got made redundant during the pandemic and are struggling to find work despite trying to and needing to. Both are doing bits and pieces but really want a good full time job. I'm sure that workplace ageism is an issue for them. This is what the government need to tackle in order for this campaign to succeed.

I only know one and she inherited a lot of money after losing her parents in her 50s.

I intend to stop working at 55.
I bought my house when I was 19 and had my children young.
I've worked since I was 16 and I've had enough!
I've saved hard these last 10 years to cover the gap between leaving work and using pension.
I've no mortgage or debt and have been doing any big jobs needed on the house before I stop working.
I plan on volunteering and just enjoying life.
The pandemic put things into perspective for me.
I enjoy doing the simple things in life and I don't need anymore stuff so I'm stopping working in the next 5 years.

The interviews aren't there for the over 50. Jobs tend to want a graduate, and university wasn't a rite of passage back then. Even a clerk role requires a degree in anything these days. The pay won't be better.

Getting an interview and then being sneered at by a teenage interviewer because you didn't do 6th form or university ( because f/t education ended at 16 and can't produce your woodwork o level cert, but still managed to head up departments in corporates - is incomprehensible to some these days.

Perhaps look for companies actively promoting an ego less culture ( yes its a thing)

No one voluntarily pays shed loads more tax than they have to! I can guarantee that when any person finds out that they have choices about potentially large tax liabilities, they'll explore ways of reducing/avoiding.

Though there's always lots of virtue signalling when it's smaller amounts that don't matter.

Every individual has their own morality threshold when it comes to tax avoidance/tax planning. To be clear, I'm not talking about illegal tax evasion, I'm talking about legal tax avoidance/planning.