Just 7 per cent of people working beyond the state pension age are doing so to boost their pension pot, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has revealed.

In its latest report, Living longer – how our population is changing and why it matters, published today, 13 August, the ONS said that just 6.9 per cent of women and 7.1 per cent of men work past 65 in order to boost their pots.

The figure compares to 54.8 per cent of males and 48.9 per cent of females who said they work beyond their state pension age as they are not ready to stop working.

Despite this, a worrying 12.4 per cent of males and 18 per cent of females said they continued working past state pensions age to pay for essential items such as bills.

Furthermore, the ONS statistics show that the number of people working aged 65 and older has “ballooned” from around 5 per cent in 1998 to over 10 per cent, or 1.2 million people, in 2018.

The ONS figures also showed that 36.2 per cent of those working over the state pension age are self-employed.

The life expectancy for a newborn male baby is 79.2 years and a 82.9 for a female, and although life expectancy is projected to continue at a slower rate, Barnett Waddingham senior consultant Malcolm McLean believes the government will continue with the state pension age rise from 67 to 68.

“I fully expect that this planned rise will, therefore, go ahead regardless. The claim will be that increases in the state pension age remain necessary and are in any event simply playing ‘catch-up’ with advances that have already happened,” he commented.

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