Barbara was 59 when she decided she’d had enough of working. The former chief executive of a multi-academy trust, now 63, had always wanted to retire early, but didn’t think she could afford to.
“I was quite burnt out and desperate to change my lifestyle. I worked 70 hours a week for years – it was just exhausting,” she says. “I was lucky to have a good pension, but also quickly realised that when you retire, you just don’t need as much money. All the activities that I do – my walking group and book group – they don’t cost anything.”
Barbara, who also volunteers as a trustee for an academy trust, is one of many people in her age group deemed “economically inactive”.
The economic inactivity rate for people aged 50 to 64 has slightly increased again, up from 27.1% between October and December last year to 27.2% between January and March 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The government has attempted to appeal to this group to return to the workforce to plug the gaps in Britain’s economy, although chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s message that life “doesn’t just have to be about going to the golf course” was widely condemned.
Since retiring, Barbara has moved back to her native Manchester from Bristol and has been able to spend more time with her family, providing a “fair bit of childcare” to her six grandchildren.
She says she understands the government’s concerns, but adds: “I am making a contribution, because my childcare commitments allow my own children to remain full-time in the workforce.”
Barbara is one of hundreds of people who responded to a callout by the Observer asking Britons in their 50s and 60s how they have spent their time since they retired.
Many reported a better quality of life as the primary reason for taking early retirement and that they were financially comfortable, thanks to paid-off mortgages, proceeds from house sales or generous final-salary pensions.
Others, however, said they were involuntarily out of work, often because of caring responsibilities for elderly parents, children or grandchildren. Some were unemployed as a result of ill health, while a number were waiting for surgeries such as hip replacements.
Dozens of people said they had retired recently because they could no longer cope with stress. Among them is Julie, 59, a retired secondary school teacher from Leicestershire: “I stopped working at Christmas. I loved [work] for many years but it became too relentless. I am loving retirement. I’ve started gardening, running, doing yoga – and am about to start pilates. I’m doing some conversation practice with a local Syrian family and just started volunteering at my old school.
“I thought I might miss work, but I don’t at all. I was a workaholic for 35 years – teaching took over everything.”
Martin, a widower and father of two from London, is among a number of respondents who reported being economically inactive because of unsuccessful job hunting.
“I took time off after my wife passed away and am now keen to get back to full-time work. I’ve been unable to secure a job for nine months and counting,” says the 55-year-old former finance director.
“I worry I won’t ever find a job again. I have enough savings to last a few more months, but after that, I will be severely downsizing – meaning I’d have to sell the house I just bought.”
For Andrew, 64, who lives in Bridlington, east Yorkshire, and had been working in construction management in the Middle East for decades, early retirement in his late 50s came simply because he could not find appropriate employment on returning to Britain.
“I had over 40 years of experience, but my qualifications weren’t considered enough. Getting work in the UK would have required paying for certificates and further study at considerable expense – I wasn’t prepared to do that,” he says. “So I became a buy-to-let landlord, simply because work had dried up.”
Louisa, 58, is one of many who said getting a job has been impossible because of caring responsibilities – in her case, as a full-time carer for her elderly parents and disabled son.
“I used to work in film and TV. Now I am one of millions of invisible unpaid carers,” she says. “I had no choice. My parents needed nursing, my son was without a suitable school place and had to be educated at home. I didn’t want to live like this.
“No work means no money or social contact, no personal satisfaction. I’d love to go back to work, but I can’t.”
