Should the retirement age be scrapped?

The UK government has announced plans to prevent firms from forcing employees to retire at 65.

This is in line with a European Union directive aimed at ending ageism in employment.

The charity Age Concern says the plans are an important first step. But the employers' organisation, the CBI, has demanded proper consultation before new laws are drafted.

With our life expectancy increasing, are older people offering essential experience? Or should they be forced to retire to make way for younger workers?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

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Your reaction

I think it is a good idea for the retirement age to be scrapped. With people living longer and wishing to continue to work should be given the choice. Besides, with Europe's working population shrinking, it can only be a good thing. Seems to me there is no other way for Europe to cope and perhaps it would be a good thing for the elderly who wish to keep active to stay active.
Colin Hunt, UK

Regrettably many of us now in our fifties have no choice but to work until our seventies or until we drop. That is because the last Tory government's mishandling of the country's economy, in particular the foolish attempt to shadow the Deutschmark, in the late 80s and early 90s destroyed our businesses and long-term retirement plans. We now have to make up what we lost, or rather what was taken from us.
Maurice, England

My company gives both men and women their pensions at 60. I have just under two years to go. I don't want to retire, so I shall be looking for another job - I am fit and haven't had a days illness is the last year. I think its wrong to force me to leave.
M, UK

People of a mature age should be classed with the highest respect

Mark Jason Rouse, UK

In my opinion, people of a mature age should be classed with the highest respect, dignity and honour that society can give. They are a valuable source of wisdom and insight and can teach the younger generations important lessons of life. Just because someone reaches the age of 65, they are not over the hill or passed their sell-by date and should be allowed to determine whether they should retire or not. After all, they are human beings.
Mark Jason Rouse, UK

Personally, having worked since leaving school, with an eight-year break to have children, I am looking forward to retirement from work - not from life. I see it as time for me - time to do and try all the things which I didn't previously have time to do. That said, if people feel they wish to carry on with a career which they find fulfilling and have the health to continue, they should be allowed to do so. I think the Government's concern would be better aimed at trying to legislate against firms who force people into redundancy simply because they've reached 50 or even younger, because they like to project a 'young' profile!
Kate Livingstone, Scotland

I'm 55 and have worked for over 32 years with my company. As long as there is a need for what I do, and the company is doing well, I can expect to remain employed. However, if there is a downturn in the economy, which seems apparent right now, things could change. My wishes have nothing to do with how things actually work. It costs more to keep me than the younger people, who have a lot of years ahead of them. While the law says that I can't be tossed out because of my age; that will make no difference if it gets down to laying off people to save money.
Jim, USA

The civilised answer is to let people work as long as they wish to, or to retire in their mid-fifties, if they wish to. Give people the option. Some people are very healthy at 70 and have interesting careers and they do not want to quit work. Others have laboured hard since youth, and have poorer health. They should not be forced to work after reaching the age of 55. As long as the choice is there, let people who are able and wish to work do so regardless of age.
Richard, USA

We don't seem to know how to hire and fire. So, we resort to a mindless approach: hire the young and fire the old. If we cannot demonstrate an ability of discerning talent, we will find ourselves with a mandated demographic distribution, another mindless approach.
Jack Butler, USA

The market will inevitably decide how useful we all are

Mark M. Newdick, USA/UK

The market will inevitably decide how useful we all are when we're past today's retirement age. Hopefully, the tax and pension laws will be rewritten to deal with the new reality - as the birth rate falls, and the baby boomers live longer, we'll all be working into our 70s. What joy!
Mark M. Newdick, USA/UK

With age comes experience, with experience comes knowledge and efficiency. Ban the retirement age, let the individual decide.
Adrian Wilkins, UK

In an advanced country such as the UK, in order to have "full employment" people should share the available work; i.e. they should each work for (say) 3 or 4 days per week. Retirement should then come easily (again to release jobs for younger people) and that retirement should be welcomed.

The only people who truly want to work "all hours that God sends, and until they drop" tend to have rewarding, satisfying and highly paid, dare I say "easy" jobs, They are simply greedy. I wonder whether they would be prepared to carry on working for "nil pay". Those in society who have "boring, low-paid and heavy work" type jobs look forward to their retirement in order to escape from the daily grind.
Terry, UK

I think it is important to be both physically and mentally active in later life. For some this means pursuing hobbies and leisure activities and for others the pleasure is received from working. I don't think there should be a compulsory retirement age, work is very much an individual and personal decision. It is better to have a choice than to have no choice at all.
Saima Alam, England

I'm 40. I'm better at my chosen profession now then I was in my 20 and 30's. I can only see my skills improving with age. So as long as I'm fit and well I see no reason why I should be forced into retirement at the age of 65
Steve, UK

Having lived and worked in the United States for 5 years the ageism that exists in the UK seems appalling. In the U.S. it is illegal to advertise a position with age restrictions, unless they are relevant to the job. Hiring procedures must then be free of discrimination to prevent any covert rejections. Many Americans seem to enjoy their work, and in these days of changing career paths, are on to their third or fourth career by the time they get into their seventies. People who are enjoying their work see retirement as the waste of time. I am sad to read so many comments from people who are weighed down by daily existence. I would say, change your job, but I suppose they can't, they are too old. It is high time the UK bought an end to ageism in employment practises and freed up the market place to let people pursue different employment paths, whatever their age.
Ruth Walkden, Uk living in States

I remember the years of high unemployment in the early eighties when they wanted to reduce the retirement age so that school leavers would have jobs to go to, however, now we have record low unemployment and there are not enough workers to fill the gaps, they start talking about raising the age of retirement - strange that isn't it?.
Andy, England

My father is 61 years old and has been facing ageism for the last few years. he is willing to work and is highly qualified. He has even jumped on the IT bandwagon and learned programming skills. Will anyone employ him? Not likely. I'm all in favour of this kind of legislation.
Arvind, UK

Employers find excuses to get rid of employees that they no longer want regardless of age. They don't wait until legal retirement age. How many middle-aged workers have been thrown onto the scrap heap. Moves to abolish the legal retirement age may enable employers to keep the few with desirable skills that they cannot replace, but it will do nothing for the rest of us.
John, UK

I find it sad that people are looking to retirement to end the daily grind so they can enjoy life. If you don't like your job do something you do enjoy. I plan to work at my own endeavours until I am way beyond 65. But I will work on my terms.
Mr Stevenson, UK

What is all this nonsense about age. I work on short to medium-term interim assignments and my age is seen as a positive because people recognise that this brings with it a wide range of skills, a great deal of ability and masses of experience. In addition, each assignment you undertake adds to those factors. You can never stop learning and age should not be a factor. I want to continue for as long as my health allows it.
Ron Leeman, UK

Nick Strugnell, UK

Legislation should be introduced to combat the rampant ageism of UK employers

Nick Strugnell, UK

Legislation should be introduced to combat the rampant ageism of UK employers. I find it incredible that jobs ads routinely specify an age range. Compare to the US where this behaviour is completely illegal, and people do not even put their date of birth on CVs and job applications.
Nick Strugnell, UK

Not much point in raising or doing away with the compulsory retirement age when ageism is so rife that you're lucky to get another job after 40, or even younger. It would be better to ban "ageism" altogether, and stamp down hard on employers who use it.
Lindsay Ponting, UK

The current retirement system is set up for conditions of the early to middle 20th century. For the majority of workers (if they reached it at all) it involved a couple of years grace to die from the effects of their working life. But longevity has greatly increased, and is likely to increase much more radically over the next few decades. So the retirement age starts to look too low. Yet, on the other hand, we can't find enough employment. We need well-off consumers, perhaps more than we do workers. Our economy suffers from a demand shortage, not a supply shortage. I think that in the 21st century will have to think quite radically about the way our lives progress. A person who lives a couple of centuries will, more than ever, need more than one career. I suspect retirement may turn into a kind of extended holiday between careers.
Malcolm McMahon, UK

There are considerable numbers of those past 65 years old still occupying senior executive positions in a lot of major companies

Hazel, UK

Whether retirement is made compulsory is immaterial. What really needs to be addressed are the gap years between when one is forced to leave one's employment, say at 60, to the time state pension can be claimed at 65 as not every company offers a pension and release scheme. What companies can do for those who have reached retirement age is to offer optional part-time or reduced hours employment so that the new younger intake can benefit from their seniors' experience. Also, I hasten to add, there are considerable numbers of those past 65 years old still occupying senior executive positions in a lot of major companies - shame the non-executive workforce is not treated the same.
Hazel, UK

I am 51 and as fit as 20, both mentally and physically. I guess the great majority feel the same. I want to work as long as I feel I wish. Show me one younger person with my experience: six languages, 40 countries during the last 20 years. Any corporation should think about this. We have the experience and maturity that only the years give. Down with this discrimination of mature people!
Carlos C Sandskaer, Sweden

Perhaps we can adopt a flexible shift of working patterns appropriate to the health, desire and ability of individuals at any age Peter Wilkins, Canada I am not sure that retirement equals paradise (as some seem to expect). While I would look forward to more time flexibility, I am sure that withdrawal from the "workforce" has negative effects on the mind and body. I am sure I want to stay involved in a meaningful role as an active participant in work and society (not merely a volunteer or mentor).

I agree that there should be a flexible plan where people can make choices during their life on if, how and when they retire. Perhaps we can adopt a flexible shift of working patterns appropriate to the health, desire and ability of individuals at any age - even the ability to take a year or two sabbatical in lieu of an early retirement. Surely that would be a tonic for many who need a break from work, but not (yet) retire.
Peter Wilkins, Canada

This is the best news I have heard in years. I lived in the USA for over 14 years, where age discrimination is illegal. When I returned to the UK in 1996, I was confronted with this archaic legislation. I will be 50 next week and I am very happy this situation is being forced on the UK Government. Recently, I applied for a job back in the UK. I had removed my date of birth from my CV and when the head-hunter asked me for this information, I refused to give it. Needless to say, my application came to an abrupt end.
Barry J. Freeman, Netherlands/UK

We all decay at different rates, scrap the retirement age.
Mike, Hong Kong

Several previous comments refer to the economy (or the young) "supporting" the retired population. I am over sixty, and have been paying various forms of state and private pension contributions for the past forty years. I regard that as supporting myself! Incidentally, I shall know when I become unable to contribute to some company's well-being. Until then, I want to make up my own mind whether I want to go on being employed.
Derek Lockwood, USA/UK

Taking John B's point a little further, there are plenty of HR and recruitment "professionals" who think that anyone over 35 is past it. I see too many companies who rely heavily on under-25's, who are often "full of knowledge, but short of wisdom", but who won't keep or take on more mature staff because they have adopted the "cult of youth" approach - "oldies are too slow to learn new skills, too expensive, uncommitted etc" - all of which is total rubbish. Any company that genuinely cares about growth should value the benefits that age and experience can bring - and yes, older people are often much more reliable and therefore cost-effective than "cheap" youngsters. We should all be allowed the choice of working after 65 - grey power rules!
Allen, UK

The Government cannot do without us wrinklies

Ailsa, UK

The truth of the matter is that people are choosing either to have their children later in life or not to have children at all! In economic terms this means that there will soon be a large majority of people over 60 who are retired and paying less or no tax. If as a nation we are not replacing these taxpayers we cannot afford to pay pensions, NHS etc, at the present level. So it therefore makes sound economic sense to let people work for longer if they so choose. The Government cannot do without us wrinklies and they have just caught on to that fact!!
Ailsa, UK

As someone who works in recruitment, I see age issues all the time. If a senior manager recruits an older person who does not work out, they will pay the price. If they recruit a younger person, with the same result, the penalty is less because they are being seen to develop future management and the candidate will also have (obliquely) benefited from the experience. Age demographics will alter this process as those managers become older and find themselves in the reverse situation in a few years time.
Keith Tracy, England

There is an additional factor of economics in the debate about extending the retirement age. When there are more jobs than younger people to fill them, employers will be forced to abandon ageism, and some people will work beyond the retirement age, either because pensions will be inadequate or because they want to keep busy. As a result of that ageism I now have a job rather than a satisfying career, so I hope that I will be able to retire, but remain healthy enough to do things that interest me, such as charity work and my currently part-time writing of feature articles for business magazines. Employers may then be begging for staff, but I want to be able to remind them that when I was available, they thought me too old.
Peter Walker, UK

Nobody would talk about raising the retirement age if it wasn't for the pensions crisis

Andy Millward, UK

Nobody would talk about raising the retirement age if it wasn't for the pensions crisis, and we wouldn't have that but for past under-investment in a proper pensions system to cope with the burgeoning elderly population. People should have the option to retire earlier, if they so desire - providing they have funded their pension or other sources of income - and to continue working if their value is beyond doubt. If they do wish to retire early, we should have the option of a partnership or mentoring scheme, so younger people can benefit from their knowledge and experience post-retirement.
Andy Millward, UK

I can't imagine anything more boring than being 'retired' for 40 or 50 years - it's the equivalent of a lifetime for some. I certainly intend to go on working until I at least feel like I'm going to drop. My husband is 20 years younger than me and I don't want, for a start, to be sitting at home for 20 years on my own waiting for him to retire.
Carol, UK

Ageism doesn't just affect people of or near retirement age. I work in IT in the financial sector and myself and others meet ageism even at the age of 40 with some organisations (especially the human resource section) not even interested in people aged 40. Last year I spent a whole Saturday doing tests (and passing in the top 10%) for a particular investment bank and yet was not given a 2nd interview even though somebody 10 years younger who got a worse score did.
Phil, UK

Whilst some people do want to retire at 45, people like myself wish to work until we are 80. IT is a super job environment and it keeps me young in mind and body.
Philip J Harvey, England

I believe that the government is using the EU directive to suit its aim of reducing public expenditure

John Rebecchi, England

I believe that the government is using the EU directive to suit its aim of reducing public expenditure, the "American way" of minimal government, on the pretext of a more balanced work force etc. The directive surely enforces the right of individuals who choose to work after 65, not that they will be expected to.
John Rebecchi, England

With the demographic changes we are witnessing, I think it is necessary to consider raising the age of retirement. Individuals should not be forced to retire at the age of 65. It should be a personal choice. If we do not exercise more flexibility about retirement ages, the tax burden on those of working age will become unbearable, as they support an ageing population.
GYS, UK

Judging by some of these responses, the knee-jerk anti-Government, eurosceptic response is yet again prevalent. It isn't suggesting people should be forced to carry on working beyond retirement age, just that if they choose to they can. Many older people enjoy the jobs they do, and if they're good at doing it why should anybody put a stop to that?
Anna, UK

Industry is already full of people in on the job retirement - often in fairly senior positions. I don't blame them for this and hope to do it myself when I reach 50. Allowing me to just sit around taking the money well into my 80's is good news for me but I don't think industry will do too well out of it. It's just another scam by the government who are panicking about pension bills!
Craig, England

Work is far preferable to genteel poverty, in my book!

Octarine, USA

In an age when most people's retirement pensions are woefully inadequate for their needs, because of job mobility and when there are insufficient tax inputs to provide a public pension, there needs to be an alternative. Work is far preferable to genteel poverty, in my book!
Octarine, USA (UK citizen)

Why do we have to have a fixed term of employment that ends at 60/65? It would be better to have a flexible attitude to working life, with taxation/pension plans flexible enough to allow people to take time off at any point during their lifetime to enjoy children, travel, charitable work - whatever - rather than having to wait until the age of retirement, whenever that might be. I would LOVE to be able to take 5 years off now and then return to work with no degradation in my terms of employment - and then work on through the age of 60 if it suits me. We have too rigid an approach to working life in this country, let people contribute to the economy at any point during their lifetime if they so wish...
Kate, UK

The retirement age should be lowered to 35. That way I get to retire next year and be happy.
Richard Newhouse, UK

It is another way of getting an increased flexible labour market for the benefit of employers

Mr Simpson, England

I can't believe this proposal to alter the retirement age! The government are trying to sell it to us, as if we are given the freedom to make our own choices but really it is another way of getting an increased flexible labour market for the benefit of employers and for the government who can then defer payment on pensions. Who wants to work until they are 80? It's just another way for us to de-value our quality of life, to flog ourselves to death for the good of large profit making companies. I'm appalled by it all!
Mr Simpson, England

I want to retire ASAP, the question will be can I afford to. If you have had a good job that you enjoyed doing and that paid well why not put your skills and knowledge back into society free of charge i.e. Citizen's Advice Bureaux, adult colleges, youth centres and so on. This would help pass on skills and knowledge and keep younger people in jobs.
Mandi, England

I am 52 years old and in the seven years I have been in my present job I have had half a day sick. Young people that I work with seem to be off sick at least every month and especially on Mondays. Could older people be fitter? Or is that they are more responsible?
Sean, England

Eileen has hit the nail right on the head. How many people go to work for any other reason than to pay bills? A very fortunate few. We're spending longer and longer at work and less time having a life that means something or that achieves something. For the majority of people, work is a mundane restriction, a necessary evil. I feel pleased for those who genuinely want to work into their 70s, but I'm afraid the majority of us want to get out as soon we can and do something satisfying that goes beyond the need to exist from day to day. Quite frankly if I'm working past 50 I'll feel that I've completely wasted my life. I'm happy to work hard, but carry on working into my 70s ? How sad is that?
Ian, UK

I want the option to enjoy the fruits of my labours while I am still alive

John B, UK

To suggest that at age 65 years and 0 days I suddenly become "past it" is as ludicrous as to suggest that at 18 years and 0 days I suddenly become a responsible adult. If I want to continue working, and am able to do so, I don't see why I shouldn't. If I subsequently want to retire I should be required to give due notice, just as I would if I resigned. I am, however, concerned that this is going to turn into a plot to force people to continue working to save on the state pension. I don't want to be forced to work when I'm in my 70s - I want the option to enjoy the fruits of my labours while I am still alive.
John B, UK

Ageism is rife throughout the country. I myself at the age of 35 feel it already in the City of London. I am a Senior Secretary and jobs advertised only go up to the age of 35 for a Senior Secretary. The agencies don't want to know anyone who is 35 and over. If it is bad now what will it be like when I turn 36!
Melissa Smith, UK

Can't we just grow old gracefully, work if we want to, and then enjoy just a bit of an Indian Summer before the grim reaper forecloses on all of our carefully accumulated pensions. Whatever we do, to paraphrase W.C. Fields, life's not so bad, given the alternative!
David Cooper, U.K.

I've worked with 30 year olds with the mental energy and attitudes normally associated with the middle aged. And I've worked with 60 year olds who are just as mentally agile and inventive as 25 year-olds. Age is simply not a good indicator of the worth of an employee.
David Jackson, UK

As a 46 year old who would retire this afternoon if it was at all possible and looks at his retired friends who, now free of wage slavery, are just beginning to get their lives back again, I think this is terrible news and the thin end of the wedge. I predict that by the time I retire the state pension will still exist and may still be available to 65 year olds but will be means-tested and subject to a health check and claimants labelled "scroungers". I further predict that only those with inherited wealth or with a private or company pension will not have to work until they drop.
Robert G, UK

Being from the USA it was incredible to me to read in Dave Jewell's message that a firm can specify an age range in an employment listing when it has little bearing on whether a person could perform the job. If the job were that of firefighter, police, or soldier I could understand the age issue being brought in, but to not employ somebody because it isn't "hip" to be old is a wrong answer. Ageism is just as wrong as sexism and racism.
Vic, USA

I'm a 37 year old women, I've been working for 21 years without a career break, I started work at 16, when I retire at 65 I will have worked for 50 years. I have got absolutely no intention of working over that age. I'll be on the beach!
S, UK

I don't think there should be a fixed retirement age. I certainly don't see myself becoming suddenly useless on the day of my 60th birthday - I intend to go on working at something for the whole of my life - not necessarily because I need the money; more to satisfy my own intellectual curiosity, and to stop my brain rotting.
Pete Morgan-Lucas, Wiltshire, UK

I can just see the headline 'X Company sacks 75 year old great grandmother

Keith, UK

I am all in favour of the right people being in the workplace. However there are some people who are clearly past their prime and do not deliver value for money to an employer. In these cases, retirement (either at 65 or by making use of an early retirement programme with pension incentives) is an easy solution. If companies no longer have the right to request that certain employees retire they will either have to carry the burden or go through the sensitive area of disciplinary action (I can just see the headline 'X Company sacks 75 year old great grandmother').
Keith, UK

There seems to be a contradiction here - on the one hand we are criticising elderly judges and doctors and suggesting they retire earlier, on the other hand we are expecting workers to work for longer and opposing age discrimination. You can't have it both ways.
Peter, Stockport, UK

Great idea save a fortune on older members of our society why let them rest after a lifetime of hard work. Yes work them until they drop close down all the homes for OAPs get out the treadmill. Back to good old Victorian values I say.
Andrew Casey, Scotland

I can't imagine a bleaker old age than having to stack shelves in a supermarket at age 77

Dave Jewell, UK

The real ageism which exists in the workplace today discriminates against people who are miles away from retirement. I recently saw a job advertisement which had an age range of 20-30. Since it was an office based sales job, there could be no medical reasons to exclude older applicants, and I think this should be against the law just as it is to discriminate on the basis of gender or race. Given the current climate of ageism, how many real opportunities would there be for 65+ year olds to earn a proper wage? All that this initiative really provides is a way to reduce the pension bill in future years. I can't imagine a bleaker old age than having to stack shelves in a supermarket at age 77 because I didn't have a pension. The government should outlaw ageism within the current employment framework to allow us to earn good money right up to retirement at 65, and further overhaul personal pension schemes to make them accessible to all, in order to tackle the state pension shortfall problem.
Dave Jewell, UK

What we need is some form of tail-off into retirement. The economy cannot afford to support all these old people not adding to it. However it's inhumane to ask them to continue working at the same level till they die of exhaustion. We need a system whereby you can work less but still pull some of your pension well into your 70's.
Simon Groom, UK

Wasn't the retirement age and reduced working hours brought in to help create jobs? I would hate to still be working when I am 66 and knowing that I am depriving a family of a wage and a better life. This is just a con to allow the government to put off paying a pension, it will soon be anyone under 80 not working is to be looked upon as a scrounger.
Gerry, Scotland

If you have an interesting, well paid job where you feel valued and you enjoy your work, the prospect of working on after retirement age might seem attractive. Spare a thought however for those in boring repetitive environments for whom the prospect of retirement is the only bright spot on the horizon - the chance to do something for yourself before old age and decrepitude finally set in. I'm outta here at age 60 to enjoy the rest of my life!
Eileen, UK

I am only 22, and I already expect to work until I'm 70

Alex Banks, Wales, living in Sweden

I am most surprised by Mrs Bond's comments. I've no idea which industry she works in, but most industries I've come across seem to like to have a younger workforce where possible. My father just got made redundant at 54, and has had a hell of a time trying to get a new job. Ageism rules in the Thames Valley area, but it shouldn't. If someone wants to work, who are we to stop them. At least it would help to keep pension and health care costs down. I am only 22, and I already expect to work until I'm 70.
Alex Banks, Wales, living in Sweden

Forced retirement is discrimination and as such should have no place in a modern society. I can only speak for myself, but I see no reason why I should retire at an arbitrary age. I'm not convinced by the arguments that there will be fewer opportunities for younger people. There are always new roles being created for which no one has any direct experience. For example, show me a web designer with 10 years experience and I'll show you a liar.
R F Ayles, UK

I agree they shouldn't be allowed to kick you out just 'cos you had one birthday too many, but I wouldn't like to be forced into continuing the grind due to financial pressure. There should come a time when it is recognised you've done your bit.
P, UK

I would be glad to have the option to continue working

Jo Mitchell, UK

With the state pension getting less and less each year, I would be glad to have the option to continue working. By the time I'm that age I'll probably have to, anyway!
Jo Mitchell, UK

It is all well and good saying about the elderly having key skills and experience, but very little is said and done for the younger generation who are not able to gain any of this experience because employers are only willing to take on experienced labour. How are we supposed to cope with living expenses etc? I am in my early 30's, have no pension, would love to own my own home, would love to have a holiday etc. We need some recognition and assistance, otherwise you will need to be keeping the workforce who are in their 50's or 60's till they die because there will be no one around with any experience or skills to take their places.
Mrs Bond, England