Default Retirement Age to be scrapped

The Government announced this morning that the Default Retirement Age will be scrapped by October 2011, under proposals published for consultation today.

Age UK has led the campaign to abolish the Default Retirement Age. Today’s welcome announcement marks a victory in our fight against age discrimination in the workplace. We believe that ending forced retirement has many benefits – giving employment security to hundreds of thousands of people, enabling people to save for longer for their retirement and allowing people the dignity of choosing when to retire. Enabling people to work and contribute their skills for longer not only keeps them active – it also makes economic sense as our population ages.

We are delighted that the Government is finally setting a clear date for the abolition of this arbitrary and unfair law. Around 100,000 people were forced to retire at or after 65 last year by this discriminatory measure. Scrapping the DRA means security for the hundreds of thousands more previously at risk of being forced out of their jobs simply because of their age.

Michelle Mitchell, Age UK Charity Director, said: “Everybody stands to win from scrapping forced retirement. People over 65 will have full employment rights for the first time. The economy will benefit from older workers’ precious skills and experience and their increased buying power. Public finances will receive a boost from more people paying taxes for longer.”