The Institute for Fiscal Studies warns that the pandemic has wrecked retirement plans and dreams, with stock markets nosediving and a collapse in wages.
Share prices on the FTSE100 have dropped by 22% since 2020, and that’s so far. It has left around a third of older people finding themselves worse off, with 8% declaring they were pushing their retirement dates back. Among the quarter of older workers who have been furloughed, 15% doubt that their jobs will still exist after the pandemic.
Rowena Crawford of the IFS said: “The pandemic has risked serious and long-term financial consequences for older workers, into and through retirement.”
It’s not entirely bad news. Those working from home are now more likely to be able to extend their working lives more easily than those travelling to offices; and changes in working practices may help level the playing field.
However, those considering retraining and looking for alternative work, may well find new areas of opportunity opening at the social care end of the scale. Our campaign to persuade more people over 55 to engage with home care and other forms of support for the elderly is one area where there is a chronic need for more people of an age closer to those being cared for – one case where age becomes a positive advantage.
For more information: https://www.pressreader.com/uk/business-and-sports/20200930/281539408404344