I’ve read similar articles this year. After the pandemic, after finding work not as rewarding (for lots of reasons) or for other reasons, over 500,000 British people of working age have opted out of the UK work force. This is potentially a major issue for UK employers, tax takings and the economy.
As I qualify as one of these who have become economically inactive before retirement age this interests me. Is this a growing trend? Is this shirking responsibilities? Are the solutions?
It’s interesting, isn’t it?
Where are they?
I’m guessing some have taken early retirement and settled for living in their private pensions and savings, while waiting a few years for their state pensions?
Are others living on Job Seekers or whatever the equivalent is nowadays?
Are couples with small children finding it’s more economic sense for one of them to stay home and they get by on a reduced income with only one of them earning, but no childcare costs?
Are people on disability allowances, carers allowance etc settling for just living in that, rather than working as well?
Are people living on their savings or being supported by family, going back into education?
I think one of the causes is that although there is plenty of work available, a lot of it is low paid work with poor conditions
The theory of capitalism is that if there is a labour shortage, pay and conditions will go up, as employers compete for employees
But that doesn’t seem to be happening
So sometimes it simply isn’t worth it to take these jobs, and people decide to manage on less income instead
Families with children are a case in point. With the cost of childcare rising, if one of the parents took one of these low paid job, childcare would just swallow the money, and they wouldn’t be much better off
The same with carers
I think people and families are looking at their options to see if they can get a better work/life balance by managing on less income rather taking these poor quality jobs
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I retired largely because they made my job (teaching in a secondary school) terrible and it was affecting my health. With the income from the flat rentals, and by doing a small number of private tuitions (with no ridiculous paperwork involved, no wonderful new initiatives forced down my neck, no jumped up/over promoted, failed classroom practitioners telling me how to do my job), and a few days exam invigilation, we do OK. Sure, our income isn’t as much as it was, but our quality of life is way better and out life expectancy probably increased.
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I very much recognise the issue with the wrong balance between the rewards of the full time job and the pressures and sheer crap that come with so many full time jobs. That’s why I ducked out of the career path before it destroyed me. I was already grinding my teeth in the hours I was actually able to sleep. The myth of the great career and great salary quickly becomes tarnished.
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I am one of the last generation of Baby Boomers who -
Qualified for their OAP/State Retirement Pension at 65
Qualified for their Bus Pass at 60
Worked for most of their working life for a ‘proper’ employer and could obtain a decent Final Salary/Years Service Pension at 65, or as in my case and many others, a few years earlier, depending on the particular employer & scheme
I also had some savings
The mortgage was almost paid off
My two children had left home and were supporting themselves
So after my 60th birthday I started thinking and did some calculations.
I had made enough National Insurance Contributions to qualify for the maximum SRP - it would not change or increase even if I paid for another few years till I was 65
I could claim 97% of my Occupational Pension
I could give up my car and use my Bus Pass
It took a little while to get used to the idea and sort the paperwork but I worked out that I could retire early and just about manage on my Occupational Pension till I was 65
So I used my savings to pay off the mortgage and took early retirement a week or two after my 61st birthday
Something I hadn’t quite realised is that after 60 there are a few minor benefits; not much, but they all help
These include free prescriptions, concessionary rates for museums & events, and for now at least, reduced prices at Iceland
Plus I have just about all the clothes, pots & pans & domestic stuff & stuff for hobbies that I need
I had to be careful but I managed - given the choice of working and not enjoying it or retiring and living cheaply, there was no argument!
Most of my friends, and I suspect, many others in similar positions, have come to the same conclusion and taken early retirement
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Similarly to your situation Dextrous, I retired early from teaching. Working well into each evening and every weekend too wasn’t conducive to a healthy lifestyle and family life. Until these situations in the education system are addressed I fear many more excellent, well qualified teachers will take the same path.
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It used to be a salary trap that kept a fair few teachers in the job. This aspect has been eroded over the last decade or so, and we’re all aware of the high proportion on young teachers leaving after a few short years. I read today about how only 59% of teaching courses have been filled. But we digress.
Great job, ruined by mad add ons and the perennial and erratic sword of Damacles, Ofsted.
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Here’s something to think about -
I calculated that if I continued working and paying off my mortgage at the regular rate, it would actually cost more than paying it off with my savings
So I paid off my remaining mortgage in one go
Yes, I had hardly any savings, but I no longer had to work - Whoopee!
And I found that once I got used to retirement, without really scrimping or going without, I was able to save money
I’m not a Civil Servant but I do liaise closely with one of their departments
And they are taking early retirement in droves
It used to be when they took a job in the Civil Service they accepted lower pay in return for job security, holidays, hours and a good pension
But now the pay of the lower grade is minimum wage ( and below, they are having to give them a small increase just to keep within the law)and their pension scheme has been changed to a far less favourable one and their paid holidays reduced, and working flexibility reduced
We’re not talking highly paid management and executives here, these are public facing civil servants at the coal face, on nearly minimum wage
So a lot of them are taking the pension they’ve already paid in for under the old scheme and going. Which leaves me dealing with only top heavy management who know nothing who you can’t get any help from and a skills gap!
I think it applies all over, people taking the pension they’ve paid in for and not waiting for state pension age. And it has more consequences than just financial
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Can only speak from personal observation, but it seemed to me that there was a desire to keep good practitioners. To do this, weird job roles were created so that extra payment could be made to retain some people. Ironically, this also allowed them extra free time and other (largely irrelevant) things to focus their attention on, thus reducing the whole purpose of why they were being bribed to remain…ie to teach children. In one school I worked in, around 17 senior teacher roles were created to manage a total staff size (including themselves and ancillary) of circa 75 and a pupil cohort of around 850.
Of course, the added monster to all of this is that they had to do something so as to justify this salary and role, which unfortunately impinged on everyone else, wasting time and effort all round at the expense of one’s sanity through stress, an increase in staff absence and all of this having a direct impact on the quality of teaching and learning.
(All too often, the over promoted ducked out of dealing with poor child behaviour because they were clearly now too important and had better things to do with their idle hands)
If this is not untypical in other fields, then no wonder people are jumping ship ASAP.
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Idle critters. 
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It could be down to illness as it’s post-Covid. Either their own illness or having to look after others. Many people who were sick before have deteriorated. People are downsizing too, selling property and living off the balance. Or they inherit. I have several friends who have lost either partners or parents over the Covid period. I think if people can retire early they will because there may not be a state pension when they come to retirement age so what is the incentive to keep working? They find other solutions and live more simply.
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After rather intrusive TIA’s that put me off work for a shade over 6wks, I was offered early retirement on health grounds at 60. That would leave me around 3yrs 2mnths short of a maximum pension so my professional body (institute of Professional Civil Servants) that is now defunct, negotiated an extra 3yrs service time to give me the maximum pension available. Did I accept? You betcha I did!! That was coming up to 20yrs ago and I’ve never regretted taking the option. My pension was based on my best paid year and it’s all index linked, so I’d have been a fool to reject the negotiated offer to keep on working. I invested my lump sum which was available straight away in a very lucrative business, never to look back with regret. I’m financially far better off now than when I was working full time. The only thing I miss is my Daimler which I ran from my essential users allowance.
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Of course, we now need to entice more younger people to live and work in the UK, who will also buck the global trend and produce even more people, so that there will be sufficient funding to pay for the retired.
I know that the gov is trying to persuade more older people to return to work. They don’t seem to have taken into account the reasons why so many wanted to jack it in in the first place.
Regardless of what one’s view of the current NHS pay claim/strike action is, it seems pretty obvious that all is deffo not well in the state of Denmark!!
At almost 80 I am far too old to return to work and run a district; BUT I’m still mentally sharp and I’ve kept the ability to kick arse when needed. On the other hand, why would I actually want all that responsibility again and with this duck shoving lot in power now, I could end up as whipping boy to name and shame when yet another ill thought policy goes tits up!! Nope, I’m enjoying watching my investments work on my and my family’s behalf. . it’s in my genes 
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You’re just a parasititical bloodsucker, preying on the toil of others further down the food chain.
Which reminds me, I must get round to putting my tenants’ rents up when the contracts are due for renewal. 
So in other words I’m a typica Jew out for my pound of flesh freshly offered by my tenants. PMSL!! Now on the other hand, I actually operate with ethics, remembering being a tenant myself for a few months before marriage. There are some bottom feeding landlords around my area who disgust me, but they are not of my ilk and prey on their fellow immigrants who know no different. The rental property laws been deep change and the sooner the better IMO.
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Think we’re not dissimilar in outlook and practices.
A couple of months ago my letting agent suggested I put the rent up, and I told them not too since we can afford to live without it, but my tenants would have struggled with that, coupled with the fuel rises (I have a reasonable idea of their income from when they signed up). Also, it makes more sense to have a tenant stay long term than having short term lets. Cost of change overs isn’t exactly cheap.
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My thoughts exactly. I’ve never had a tenant looking to move on other than for a job moving. At least half of mine all work for locally for RR and those who do not have guarantor leases, so I know the rent is always there 
My costs have not dramatically increased, so all the rents are kept the same, AND my tenants respect the properties. In all the time I’ve been letting, I’ve only had to chase one guarantor, so I suppose I’ve selected my tenants well.
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Thanks for all the comments. It is interesting - there seems to be a theme that at a certain point / age many look at the negative aspects of work (guess what - your boss, them above imposing daft rules, pay awards versus more responsibility) means that a decision to duck out becomes easy. The key influence is the calculation of can you live reasonably comfortably without a monthly wage and with other perhaps less secure forms of pay. And the pension calculation as well.
I’ve a suspicion that this issue exists for every level of employment and every sphere of work - from teachers through to service sector professionals (hey, I do not mean that teachers are not professional - its just that writing teaching professionals looked a but strange). And all in between / above / below (gawd, being inclusive is hard).
For me, and I’d like others opinions, this says that the work place is not serving older employees well. It seems to assume the career ladder is all. Or perhaps other misjudgments.
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