06 September 2016

Around one in eight workers are forced to stop working before state retirement age, with the lowest paid suffering the most.

This is according to a new report from the TUC - Postponing the Pension: are we all working longer? - which found workers aged over 50 now account for 30% of the workforce (up from 24% in 2000), yet many are too unwell to keep going until they receive their state pension.

Workers in manual jobs are twice as likely to stop working due to health concerns than professionals and managers, a situation worsened by the fact these workers are among the lowest paid.

This comes at a time when the Conservative government has targeted rises in the state pension age as a way to reduce the benefits bill.

TUC General Secretary, Frances O'Grady, said: "Raising the state pension age is an easy target for chancellors of the exchequer wanting to make stealth cuts. But these figures show that we must hold off on any further rises in the pension age until we have worked out how to support the 1 in 8 workers who are too ill to work before they even get to state pension age.

"People should be able to retire in dignity with a decent pension when the time is right. Older workers have a crucial role to play in the labour market but we can’t expect the sick to wait longer to get a pension when they may need financial support more than ever."

The Institute of Employment Rights argues that shifting the focus of labour law from statutory legislation to collective bargaining is the first step to reducing wage inequality and supporting vulnerable workers, including those approaching retirement. This allows manual workers to negotiate for better conditions to reduce work-related illness, as well as higher pay.

Read more about our proposals here