People today are living longer and retirement often starts earlier, but how many of us actually plan how we will spend our time and indeed when our retirement will start?
Over a third of people over the age of 50 and under 65 are no longer in paid work. For some, this is a positive choice that allows them freedom to choose how to spend their time. For others, their options may be limited by income, health, caring responsibilities, or where they live. A new study from the Policy Studies Institute and Joseph Rowntree Foundation, published today, examines what people in their fifties and sixties who have left paid work are doing and how this fits in with what they thought they would want to be doing once retired.
Forging a new future: the experiences and expectations of people leaving paid work after 50 by Helen Barnes, Jane Parry and Jane Lakey shows that the manner in which people leave paid work can have a real impact on how they adjust to their new status and highlights policy changes needed to ease the transition into retirement. Those who freely chose to retire tended to have higher levels of income and more options open to them. Where people live also has an impact on how they engage outside the home after leaving paid work: for example fear of crime in inner-city areas, poor public transport links in rural areas and how geared up their area is to the needs of older people.
People taking part in the research stressed the importance of planning for this time of life and that gradual transitions out of work were helpful in coming to terms with their new status. You can’t plan for everything in the future, such as redundancy, ill-health, or the need to look after a partner or elderly parent and so the more thought you give to what you would be doing if you weren’t doing paid work throughout your life, the less of a shock it is when you find yourself without the focus or routine of daily work.
‘Nowadays we are always being told about the importance of planning for retirement. But this is usually in terms of money, and no-one ever talks about thinking about how you’re going to spend your time in the future,’ says Helen Barnes, co-author of the report. ‘Our research highlights the real need for independent advice, as well as more information about education and leisure activities and opportunities for community participation in the local area.’
The study found that people in their fifties and sixties continue to make a huge contribution to society after leaving unpaid work – undertaking voluntary work, helping out friends and family, caring for grandchildren and other relatives, and getting involved in community, leisure and creative activities. These had many benefits, including personal fulfilment, a sense of purpose, continued sociability and keeping physically and mentally fit. But people felt that, having left paid work, they wanted to decide how they spent their time in retirement. They wanted the balance of activities in their life to be more satisfying, made up of things they could opt into on a flexible basis.
The fact that people who did not chose to leave paid work, but experienced ill-health or redundancy, adjusted less well to their ‘retirement’, suggests a real need for policy reforms in the benefit system and a need for information and advice provided to people throughout their working lives. Perhaps most importantly the report identifies some of the barriers faced by people who would like to be more active in their communities but simply don’t know what they could do, or how to get involved.
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Contact:
| Nelleke van Helfteren, Head of Communications,PSI | 020 7468 0468 |
| Helen Barnes, Author |
020 7468 0468 |
| Jane Parry, Author | 020 7468 0468 |
1. Forging a new future: experiences and expectations of people leaving paid work after 50 by Helen Barnes, Jane Parry and Jane Lakey from the Policy Studies Institute for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation is published today by The Policy Press and available from Marston Book Services, PO Box 269, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4YN (01235 465500), price £11.95 plus £2.75 p&p.
2. The main findings from the research can be found at www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings or free of charge from JRF, The Homestead, 40 Water End, York, YO30 6WP, tel 01904 629241.
3.
The research was based upon 48 interviews and 4 focus groups conducted
people in their 50s and 60s in 4 contrasting parts of the UK. These were: Onllwyn,
a former mining village in S.Wales; Warminster, a rural town in South West England;
Hackney in inner-city London; and East Renfrewshire, a suburban part of Glasgow.
4. Policy Studies Institute is a registered charity and has no association with any political party, pressure group or commercial interest.