More over-50s are still in employment

An analysis by the TUC found that 64.9 per cent of people aged between 50 and 64 were in work last December, compared with 56.5 per cent in 1992.

Over the same period, the proportion of those over the age of 64 still working increased from 5.5 per cent to 9 per cent, while young people have become less likely to be in a job.

In April 1992, 48.8 per cent of 16 and 17-year-olds were in employment, but that figure had dropped to around 23.6 per cent by December 2010, said the report.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “The increasing number of over 65s in work shows that older workers are highly valued and that the Government is absolutely right to scrap the default retirement age.

“But there is a darker side to people working beyond their retirement. Low wages and poor pension provision, particularly in the private sector, mean that many people simply cannot afford to retire at 65.

“The failure of far too many employers to help staff save for their retirement is forcing these people into pensioner poverty and placing a huge cost burden on the state.”