One in eight older workers have changed their retirement plans because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to research commissioned by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

The IFS used data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing Covid-19 sub-study and it revealed that 13% of the 10,000 people aged 50 and over surveyed have already changed their planned retirement age.

The data showed that 8% of those surveyed are now planning to retire later than previously.

Further, one third of older workers reported that, as a result of the crisis, they were worse off financially, with those who were struggling financially prior to the pandemic much more likely to report a worsening of their financial situation than those who were previously better off.

Rowena Crawford, Associate Director at the IFS, said:

"The current pandemic risks having serious and long-term financial consequences for older workers, affecting living standards into and through retirement. The crisis has also been disruptive to major life plans, with one in eight older workers so far changing the age at which they planned to retire.

"Those on furlough are now more likely than those working to be planning to retire earlier and it will be important to monitor that this does not represent a rise in involuntary retirement among people discouraged from finding new work."

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