Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • August 2012
08

Ill health 'is stopping 500,000 people near retirement from working'

Open-access content Friday 31st August 2012 — updated 1.06pm, Tuesday 5th May 2020

Nearly half a million people approaching retirement are being prevented from working by disability or poor health, the Trades Union Congress said today.

Old person retirement pensions

31 AUG 2012 | THE ACTUARY NEWSDESK: NICK MANN

In an analysis of the Office for National Statistics' Labour Force Survey figures, the TUC found that employment rates for people approaching the current state pension age were low. Just over half (54%) of men aged 60-64 and 62% of women aged 56-60 are in work.

The TUC claimed this situation would get worse if plans to automatically increase the state pension age in line with longevity increases take effect. While the government has argued this change will extend working lives, the TUC said many older people are unfit or will find it hard to work and as a result will end up in a 'limbo zone' where they are too young for a pension and too old to work.

According to its analysis, nearly two in five people approaching the state pension age are defined as economically inactive having not sought work in the past four weeks. Long-term sickness and disability was cited as the main reason for them not working.

In total, 470,325 people are currently inactive due to long-term sickness and disability, compared to 375,368 defined as inactive as a result of having taken early retirement.

As a result, the TUC said it was wrong for the government to plan state pension age increases without having first addressed the health inequalities that are forcing people out of work well before they reach pension age.

It also highlighted high levels of unemployment among older workers, with nearly half of unemployed people near state pension age having been out of work for at least a year.

Brendan Barber, the TUC's general secretary, said: 'While more people are working past their state pension age, often as the only way to get a decent retirement income, a far greater number of older people are unable to work due to ill health or because they are trapped in long-term unemployment.

'Accelerating the rise in the state pension age will simply push more people into poverty. We will end up with a new limbo zone for people in their mid-60s who are too young for a pension, but too old to have any realistic chance of a job.'

Changes in the benefit system are also forcing many older people to actively look for work or risk losing their benefits, Barber noted.

He added: 'By raising the state pension age and ignoring persistent health inequalities, the government risks overseeing a dramatic rise in pensioner poverty.'

This article appeared in our August 2012 issue of The Actuary .
Click here to view this issue

You may also be interested in...

ta filler

Omnibus II vote delay raises concerns over Solvency II timetable

A European Parliament vote on the legislation which underpins new rules governing Europe's insurance industry has been put back by a month, raising concerns over the timetable for implementing the system.
Friday 31st August 2012
Open-access content

Enhanced annuity sales break £1bn barrier for first time

Quarterly sales of enhanced annuities exceeded £1bn for the first time between April and June 2012, according to figures published by Towers Watson today.
Thursday 30th August 2012
Open-access content
ta filler

Inflation hedging by pension schemes hits record high

The total value of inflation hedging transactions carried out on behalf of UK pension schemes hit a record high of £18.5bn in the second quarter of 2012, F&C Investments said today.
Thursday 30th August 2012
Open-access content
ta filler

Eighth International Longevity Risk and Capital Markets Solutions Conference

The Eighth International Longevity Risk and Capital Markets Solutions Conference will be held in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada on September 7-8 2012.
Friday 10th August 2012
Open-access content

Italy offers insurers major opportunities, says Swiss Re

Italy’s insurance industry could benefit from growth opportunities in the country’s healthcare sector as well as providing more natural catastrophe coverage, Swiss Re said this week.
Wednesday 29th August 2012
Open-access content
ta filler

Enhanced transfer value offers 'are not finished'

Industry guidelines aimed at tightening up how pension scheme sponsors incentivise members to transfer out of their scheme will change how offers are made rather than bringing an end to the practice, JLT Pension Capital Strategies said today.
Tuesday 28th August 2012
Open-access content

Latest from Health care

yf

Animal crossing: the threat of zoonotic diseases

Prachi Patkee and Adam Strange discuss what the rising threat of climate-driven communicable disease means for insurers
Wednesday 30th November 2022
Open-access content
hb

Boiling point: the effect of rising temperatures on future mortality

As quantifying climate risk exposure becomes increasingly important, Dan Gill, Rajinder Poonian and Alex Harding investigate the effect of rising temperatures on future mortality
Wednesday 2nd November 2022
Open-access content
vb

Interview: Professor Paul Dalziel on changing the focus of economies from growth to wellbeing

Paul Dalziel talks to Alex Martin about the true purpose of economics and the lessons we can draw from the 2019 New Zealand wellbeing budget
Wednesday 2nd November 2022
Open-access content

Latest from August 2012

2

Labour slams European pensions and insurance rule changes

Changes to the European rules governing the pensions and insurance industries could harm UK businesses and damage the country’s economic growth, Labour said today.
Wednesday 29th August 2012
Open-access content
2

Alternatives to traditional reinsurance 'increasingly viable'

Capital market-based reinsurance options represent an increasingly viable alternative to traditional reinsurance, Fitch said yesterday.
Tuesday 28th August 2012
Open-access content

Council workers back pension scheme reforms

Council workers represented by the Unite union have voted to accept proposed reforms to the Local Government Pension Scheme today.
Friday 24th August 2012
Open-access content

Latest from formbuilder_item_removed

2

Implementing IFRS 17 Discount Curves: Theoretical and Practical Challenges

The International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 17 requires liability cash flows to be discounted at rates that reflect the characteristics of the cash flows, including their liquidity
Tuesday 3rd September 2019
Open-access content
2

Profit Emergence Under IFRS 9 and IFRS 17: The impact of choice of liability discount rate

With the IFRS 17 accounting standard, insurers need to understand the patterns of profit emergence that arise under the standard, and how current business and methodology decisions affect such patterns.
Wednesday 10th July 2019
Open-access content
2

Whitepaper: Aggregation and diversification of the IFRS 17 Risk Adjustment

This paper forms part of a series of high-level papers designed to provide an introduction to different features of the risk adjustment that should be considered in advance of implementation.
Tuesday 29th January 2019
Open-access content

Latest from no_opening_image

TPR publishes coronavirus guidance

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published guidance to help UK pension trustees, employers and administrators deal with the financial and regulatory risks posed by coronavirus.
Monday 23rd March 2020
Open-access content
web_p24_cat-and-fish_iStock-483454069.png

Sensitivity analysis: swimming lessons

Silvana Pesenti, Alberto Bettini, Pietro Millossovich and Andreas Tsanakas present their alternative approach to sensitivity analysis
Wednesday 4th March 2020
Open-access content
ta

IFoA adjudication panel: Mr Jack Wicks, student

On 30 October 2019 the Adjudication Panel considered an allegation of misconduct against Mr Jack Wicks (the respondent).
Friday 28th February 2020
Open-access content

Latest from missing_authorDate_strap_details

TPR publishes coronavirus guidance

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published guidance to help UK pension trustees, employers and administrators deal with the financial and regulatory risks posed by coronavirus.
Monday 23rd March 2020
Open-access content
web_p24_cat-and-fish_iStock-483454069.png

Sensitivity analysis: swimming lessons

Silvana Pesenti, Alberto Bettini, Pietro Millossovich and Andreas Tsanakas present their alternative approach to sensitivity analysis
Wednesday 4th March 2020
Open-access content
OCT-2019.jpg

10

October 2019 archive + digital edition
Wednesday 9th October 2019
Open-access content

Latest from 08

2

Labour slams European pensions and insurance rule changes

Changes to the European rules governing the pensions and insurance industries could harm UK businesses and damage the country’s economic growth, Labour said today.
Wednesday 29th August 2012
Open-access content
2

Alternatives to traditional reinsurance 'increasingly viable'

Capital market-based reinsurance options represent an increasingly viable alternative to traditional reinsurance, Fitch said yesterday.
Tuesday 28th August 2012
Open-access content

Council workers back pension scheme reforms

Council workers represented by the Unite union have voted to accept proposed reforms to the Local Government Pension Scheme today.
Friday 24th August 2012
Open-access content
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Exposure Management Analyst

London, England
£40000 - £50000 per annum
Reference
148639

Pricing - Casualty Actuary

London (Central)
£128K + bonus + benefits
Reference
148638

Reporting Contractor

Negotiable
Reference
148636
See all jobs »
 
 
 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2023 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ