Forties People

Politicians are being urged to allow those in 40-plus jobs to stay in work for longer by abandoning their support of the default retirement age.

According to Age Concern and Help the Aged, many employers have used the retirement rules as a cheap and easy alternative to redundancy in recent months.

Figures from the charity also show that 100,000 older employees were forced to retire during 2009.

Age Concern and Help the Aged are therefore calling on political parties to end their support for the default retirement age ahead of the general election.

Charity director Michelle Mitchell described the policy as a "disturbing" example of age discrimination that blights the lives of many over-65s.

"The default retirement age has stamped an expiry date on hundreds of thousands of older workers," she commented.

Ms Mitchell added that about 90 per cent of people in their 60s are opposed to forced retirement.

The government has recently suggested that the policy could be scrapped, with Harriet Harman telling the Daily Mail that the default retirement age is an "arbitrary" figure that does not reflect people's actual abilities.

Posted by Mary King