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Employment and Retirement of Older Workers in the UK

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Delaying Retirement

Abstract

This chapter investigates public and employer policies in the liberal residual welfare state of the United Kingdom (UK). Unlike other European countries, the UK does not have a recent history of state-sponsored early retirement incentives. Older male participation rates bottomed out in the early 1990s as the economy transitioned to one which is service industry led, but since the turn of the millennium, older worker participation rates have been rising, especially amongst those 65+. Employment laws such as regulations prohibiting workplace age discrimination, abolishing mandatory retirement, and extending the right to request flexible working to all workers have opened y opportunities for older people. The state pension is residual and there are extensive gaps in second-tier pension coverage, thus compelling older people to extend working life for financial reasons.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    One of the few organizations to take an early focus on the impact of aging populations was the International Labour Organization that passed Resolution R162 (Older Workers Recommendation) in 1980. This noted that “older workers, without discrimination by reason of age, enjoy equality of opportunity with other workers in regards to training, use of skills, employment security, remuneration and social welfare, conditions of work and access to housing and healthcare.”

  2. 2.

    Defined as the age at which an employee is eligible to retire on a full pension.

  3. 3.

    http://www.nhsemployers.org/PAYANDCONTRACTS/NHSPENSIONSCHEMEREVIEW/IMPACTOFWORKINGLONGERREVIEW/Pages/WorkingLongerReviewSteeringGroup.aspx.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Matt Flynn

  2. Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Yuxin Li

Authors
  1. Matt Flynn
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  2. Yuxin Li
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany

    Dirk Hofäcker

  2. Institute of Gerontology at the Technical University of Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany

    Moritz Hess

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Stefanie König

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Flynn, M., Li, Y. (2016). Employment and Retirement of Older Workers in the UK. In: Hofäcker, D., Hess, M., König, S. (eds) Delaying Retirement. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56697-3_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56697-3_10

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-56696-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-56697-3

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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