Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has urged older people to return to work in order to help the country thrive.
As record numbers of people return to the workforce, an army of older people is leading a major jobs revival in the UK. According to new data, nearly 50,000 people who had previously been economically inactive have returned to work in the last three months.
The “great unretirement” is an indication that the cost-of-living crisis is forcing people to supplement their incomes.
This 2023, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt urged older workers who had left the workforce due to the pandemic to return in order to help alleviate chronic labour shortages.
Ministers are also looking into pension reforms to entice over-50s to return to the workforce.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 48,000 people moved from economic inactivity to employment between September and December.
Based on the ONS, this was a record-high movement of economically inactive people into the labour force.
Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, said earlier this month that inactivity among 50 to 65-year-olds was dragging on the UK’s labour supply and “weighs on the economy’s potential”.