Government needs to act on retirement age issue

The government has been commended for bringing forward a review on whether the mandatory retirement age should be scrapped.

However, the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) has called on it to move faster to tackle what it described as an “anomaly” in age discrimination law.

This, it said, is because many people over the age of 65 are still able to make significant contributions to the UK economy but are being involuntarily retired.

“Only short-sighted organisations would risk removing talented people just because a milestone birthday is approaching,” the EFA commented.

The organisation added that employment law should also be changed because in the current economic climate, many older people cannot afford to give up work and live off their pension earnings.

Meanwhile, Scottish Widows has said that while some people may like the option of working past the age of 65, the majority want to give up work earlier.

A survey by the group showed that on average, British employees would like to retire at 61.