New study reveals more women will work on into their 70s #TheElitePartyInJuly #IRepEntertain9jarBlog via @myentertain9jar

MORE than one million women pensioners will be working long into retirement within six years, a study revealed yesterday.

 

Women to be healthier and better off by working longer [GETTY/ POSED BY MODEL ]

And not only will they still be in work, and therefore better off, they will also be healthier and less likely to be widowed as their husbands will also live longer.

The number of women aged between 65 and 74 still at work in England is already at the highest level for 40 years at 360,000

But by 2020/21 this will have soared to 1.07million, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

As many as 37 per cent of women aged 65 to 69 will be in paid work in 2020–21, compared to 16 per cent in 2010–11.

There will soon be more elderly women in the workforce than men.

Currently there are 620,000 men aged 65 to 74 earning a living. But this will only rise to 900,000 by 2020-22. The IFS study looks at future retirement trends of people aged 65-plus in England up to 2022–23.

Katy Heald, a senior IFS researcher and author of the report, said “Employment rates for women in their late 60s will increase further and faster over the next few years.

“This reflects improving health, as well as being a response to the rising state pension age from 60 in 2010 to 66 in 2020. Increasing earnings will boost the incomes of these women. The health of older women is improving and within each age group the proportion of women with no substantial health problems is projected to rise by more than five per cent.

“For example among those aged 65 to 74 the proportion of those with no substantial health problems is projected to increase from 39 per cent to 47 per cent.”

Increasing life expectancy, plus the fact that mortality rates are lower for people in a relationship, means far fewer pensioners will be living alone in the future. The number of couples aged 85 and over will jump to 38 per cent by 2022–23 – up from 25 per cent in 2010–11.

And incomes in retirement are set to rise, the report found.

Average earnings of the 65 to 74 age group are currently around £37.30 a week. By 2022-23, in real terms, these will rise to £94.74 a week.

And private pension income will be a typical £192.23 – up from £112.60 now.

However, poverty will become concentrated among older single women.