New figures show that over a million of the UK’s workforce (6%) believe that they will never be able to retire, while some 17.1 million (44%) think they will definitely be working past the State Retirement Age (SRA) and over a fifth (22%) are unsure how long their retirement savings will last.

The latest figures come from research commissioned by Canada Life and carried out by Opinium, which reveals at least one positive trend to emerge this year: the number of people who think they will work beyond their state pension age is actually down 2.7m from 51% in 2020.

While many people will actively welcome remaining in work for a variety of reasons, others have cncerns it will have on their health and quality of life.

The biggest concern that UK adults have when thinking about working beyond the state pension age is being unable to enjoy their older age (34%). A third (33%) are worried their health will deteriorate because they need to keep working.

Over a quarter (27%) either need to or want to work but are worried their health will make it difficult to do so.

However, on another positive note, nearly one in four people (23%) wish to continue working because they enjoy the routine, while one in five (21%) say they enjoy their job and want to continue working.

Of those people expecting to work beyond their state pension age, 43% think that their pension will not be enough to retire fully. A quarter (22%) will continue to work as they are unsure how long their retirement savings will last, while 10% think they are prepared but say their current lifestyle means it’s too expensive for them to retire.

The pandemic has had an marked impact on people’s attitudes towards retirement, argues Andrew Tully, technical director at Canada Life: “Many people are re-evaluating how they want to live and what they want to do in later life.

“Digging beneath the surface, there are a variety of reasons for working beyond state pension age, or not retiring at all. For some people the social side of work would be missed, but for others, financial considerations are a key driver.”

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