Forties People

New research released today (April 28th) shows that forced retirements cost the UK economy billions last year.

Ahead of the third party leader debate tomorrow night, which will focus on the economy, Age UK has revealed that the country's economic output decreased by around £3.5 billion - including £2 billion in lost earnings for the workers themselves - in 2009 due to the fact that 120,000 older workers were forced to retire.

All three major political parties have pledged to change the current default retirement age (DRA) of 65 should they win power on May 6th, with the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives promising to abolish it completely. However, the Labour Party instead plans to hold a review of the DRA in the summer before deciding on its future.

Michelle Mitchell, Age UK director, said: "While party leaders are gearing up to lock horns over the state of the economy, they should remember that scrapping the DRA is a simple step to boost public finances.

"It is not only an unfair, outdated piece of legislation, but it also causes real harm to our economy and public finances by depriving the labour market of experienced, skilled workers who would otherwise be paying taxes."

Posted by James Strang