Scrapping retirement age will force people to 'work til they drop'

The Equality and Human Rights Commission called for fundamental changes to employment policies yesterday to open up more work opportunities for older people and tackle the challenges of an ageing workforce.

The group proposed abolishing the so-called default retirement age, extending the right to request flexible working and the overhaul of employer recruitment practices to prevent discrimination and improve training.

State pension age is currently 60 for women and 65 for men, but will rise to 65 for both men and women by 2020.

According to the commission's research extending working lives by 18 months would inject £15 billion into the British economy.

A survey of 1,500 older people showed most believed major changes were needed to attitudes and policies if they were to achieve their goals.

And one in four men and two-thirds of women said they wanted to keep working beyond the state pension age.

Most of the 50 to 75-year-olds questioned said flexibility in hours and work location were crucial to keeping them in work longer, with financial necessity the most important reason to continue working.

But the National Pensioners Convention (NPC) warned that arguments in favour of raising the state retirement age or having the right to work after 65 have been falsely promoted as a solution to an ageing population or as a question of fairness.

"Arguments in favour of giving individuals the right to work for as long as they choose often do so on the basis that people need to work because of their low pension income," NPC general secretary Dot Gibson said.

"However, rather than tackling low income through an improved state pension system, removing the default retirement age would condemn the very poorest in our society to carry on working until they die."

By removing the right to a decent period of retirement for ordinary working people, "we are accepting the myth that increased longevity necessarily enables people to work longer, whether they want to or not, and that an individual's only worth is measured through their ability to be economically productive," Ms Gibson added.