The majority of Australians currently in their forties and in fair or poor health will be unemployed in their sixties, a new report has predicted.
The latest AMP.NATSEM Report, which provides a snapshot of Australian society and our financial and personal aspirations, found that 65.1% of men and 72.1% of women currently aged in their forties and suffering from poor or fair health will be unemployed when they reach their sixties.
…younger Australians need to consider the importance of their long-term health…
Further, close to half of Australians currently aged 40-54 who are in very good health are likely to see a decline to fair or poor health by 2035. The Report presents a gloomy picture of older Australians’ ability to work past retirement age.
“The Report shows that Australians in good health are more than twice as likely to be in the workforce compared to those in poor health,” said Professor Laurie Brown, of NATSEM.
“Currently the majority of Australians leave the workforce before the age of 65. With the possibility of this increasing to over 70 over the next 20 years, younger Australians need to consider the importance of their long-term health and its impact on career, wealth and retirement.”
Other key findings from the report include:
- Currently, 72.2% of men aged 60-64 years and 41.5% of men aged 65-69 with very good or excellent health are likely to be in the workforce. If in poor health, this reduces to 34.8% and 22.5% respectively.
- For women in poor health, only 17.8% of those aged 60-64 and 8.9% of those aged 65-69 are likely to be working
- However, workforce participation for women aged between 60-64 has increased significantly over the last 35 years, from 12.8% in 1979 to 45.1% in 2014
- The average age for Australians to retire (over the last five years) is 63.3 for men and 59.6 for women
- Currently, 83% of men and 92% of women older than 65 are no longer working. This is a significant decline from people aged 60-64, where 40% of men and 60% of women are unemployed.
- The majority of workers aged 60-69 are professionals (53%). Manufacturing, electricity and construction sectors employ one in four men aged 60-69; the education and health sectors employ the majority of women aged between 60-69 (49%).
- People with tertiary qualifications are more likely to be employed at older ages, with 49% of those aged 60-69 years with post school qualifications still employed, compared to only 30% whose highest education is Year 12
- More than one in five men (23.6%) and one in four women (24.9%) who said they were in good health at age 65 were in fair or poor health by the time they reached 70 (based on data from 2008-2013)
- Australia is ranked fourth for men and fifth for women for life expectancy compared to other countries in the OECD
“The good news is that Australians are living longer,” said AMP Chief Customer Officer, Paul Sainsbury. “But we know more years in retirement places more strain on our superannuation balances so it’s likely many of us will need to work longer.
“This raises some confronting questions, in particular, how healthy we will be in the later years of our working life and what our financial position will be.”
