Beyond the great retirement: understanding and tackling economic inactivity amongst the over 50s

Summary

Almost 1 million people aged 50-64 have left the workforce since the pandemic. Why the UK is seeing dramatic changes to workforce participation amongst over 50s is therefore a major concern.

We currently have around half a million fewer people in the workforce aged 50+ than we would have had if pre-pandemic trends had continued. Other major economies have seen their employment rates bounce back after the pandemic, including for workers over 50 but we have not seen this in the UK and we want to explore why.