This study examines trends in employment, unemployment and self-employment among the over 50s in the UK. To gain insight into the reasons behind these trends, we utilise results of a Saga Populus survey of 11,168 people aged 50 and over. In addition, this research draws on Cebr’s in-house forecasts of total employment in the economy to predict how the employment and unemployment of the over 50s will evolve over the next five years.
The key findings of the research are as follows:
• The number of over 50s in employment has grown in recent years. Between 2004 and 2014, the number of over 50s in employment grew on average by 2% per year and by the end of 2014 just over 9 million people aged over 50 were in work. By contrast, the number of under 50s in employment grew on average by 0.2% per year between 2004 and 2014.
• One of the top reasons the over 50s remain in work is to support their lifestyles - 83% of working respondents stated this in a survey conducted by Populus for Saga.