The Employment and Earnings of Britain’s Senior Citizens

Abstract

Britain's senior citizens, in common with the rest of Europe, are the fastest growing age group among the population and the numbers working have grown substantially. In 2007 the numbers working at or beyond the state pension age (65 and over for men, 60 and over for women) was 1.26 million, a number that has doubled over the past decade. In Europe generally these numbers will rise substantially. Using (mainly) a pooled dataset from the Labour Force Survey, the paper explores the determinants of the decision to work by household type (those with a partner and those without) as well as earnings, which are generally low. Female disadvantage appears to be a feature, just as with the working age population. Some comments about data discrimination against senior citizens are also made.