Most people planning to retire in the next 10 years and beyond will have to face up to the likelihood of working well past their official retirement age. A survey commissioned for the BBC reveals the extent of the anxiety felt by many.
The ComRes survey, carried out for the flagship Newsnight programme, revealed that as many as 70% of those questioned thought that it would not be possible for people to stop working and then live off a pension for up to 30 years while 72% of those in work worried that they would not earn enough to live comfortably in retirement.
The poll indicates that people are concerned about the new retirement plans due to be introduced by the coalition government which confirmed that it was planning to scrap the default retirement age from October 2011 which will allow people to continue working beyond their 65th birthday. The government is also planning to raise the state pension age to 66 faster than the previous Labour government which planned to introduce it in 2024 and raise it again to 68 by 2046. Despite the changes half of those questioned still expected to retire by the age of 66.
Jeremy Black, professor of history at the University of Exeter said that people were getting accustomed to a changing set of circumstances. He said: “The relationship between the generations has been transformed. Whereas it used to be the case that up and coming generations tended to be more prosperous than their parents, now we’re going to be in reverse.”
