The Department for Work and Pensions has published Economic activity of individuals aged 50 or over, trends over time, showing:

• Employment rate for those between 50 and 64 has fallen from 72.1% in 2020 to 71.2% in 2021
• Number of over-50s working impacted by Covid
• Among those aged 50+, 600,000 jobs furloughed, equal to one-third of all workers on furlough – 34%; up from 31% at the end of May
• The employment rate for people aged 50 and over has been increasing since the mid-1990s
• Data suggests that while home working may help some older workers stay in the labour market, it has not been an option for all and ‘may entrench existing inequalities’
• The number of people aged 50 to 64 years in self-employment fell significantly from 1.7 million (18.5%) in 2020 to 1.6 million (17.1%) in 2021
• The average age of exit for women in 1950 was aged 63.9 years. It fell and reached its lowest point in 1986 at aged 60.3 years. Since then, the average age of exit for women has increased by 3.7 years to aged 64.0 years in 2021
• In 1950, the average age of exit of men was aged 67.2 years. In 2021, the male average age of exit from the labour market was 65.1 years, compared to aged 65.3 years in 2020.
• The data comes shortly after the publication of the Health and Social Care levy, which introduces a 1.25% charge on the income of those working past state pension retirement age from April 2023.