More than one in seven (15 per cent) pensioners have 'unretired' as a response to the current cost-of-living crisis, research from Standard Life has revealed.

The research, which come from Standard’s Life Retirement Voice study, found that 15 per cent of retirees over the age of 65 have said that they returned to work as a result of the cost-of-living crisis.

This trend was continued amongst younger savers as 13 per cent of over 55s are planning on delaying their retirement because of the difficult economic times.

The research also discovered a gender disparity in the pensioners returning to work, as over a third (36 per cent) of women returning to work citied that they did so as their pension didn’t give them enough to live on, compared to just 18 per cent of men.

Standard Life chief marketing officer, Sangita Chawla, commented: “We’re seeing immense pressures on people’s finances resulting in many being forced to seek new ways of increasing or supplementing their income.

“There’s a clear trend in people searching for second jobs, putting the brakes on their retirement plans and even returning to work having previously retired.

“As people look for cost savings, they’re more likely to stop or reduce regular payments towards TV subscriptions and phone contracts before considering adjusting their pension contributions.

“Despite the pressure, it's encouraging to see that pension saving is considered to be on a par with utilities, with few saying that it would be a top priority to cut out this form of saving and lose its long-term benefit.”

This is reflected, according to Standard Life, in the behaviours the provider has reported from its own customers recently, with very few choosing to stop their pension contributions.

It detailed that the vast majority of customers would consider other ways to free up money first before making a change to their current contribution patterns.

Standard Life additionally detailed that, between June and October, just over 700 customers contacted them for help with the increased cost of living, which it suggested signalled a shift in requirements to now fund non-essential costs.

The provider additionally detailed that customers who plan to reduce debt or use their funds for day-to-day living is “slowly increasing”.

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