More over-50s took early retirement during the pandemic, new research shows, but for many it wasn’t a lifestyle choice
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One of the lasting legacies of this pandemic is that almost half-a-million workers are missing from the labour market. This increase in inactivity – people neither working nor looking for work – is why our employment rate has not recovered, despite unemployment returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Early in the pandemic, it was young people dropping out of the labour market. But that was often for good reasons, such as to study, and they’ve returned since. The real, lasting story, however, is about older workers. Even as the economy reopened and vacancies hit record level, those aged over 50 have been dropping out of the labour force. Why?
