Women are, on average, working for nearly four additional years before exiting the labour market compared to the counterparts in the mid-nineties, new statistics from the ONS revealed this week.

The change is part of a growing trend for both men and women to work for years longer before exiting the labour market and retiring.

However, many have found it a struggle to find work in their later years, particularly during the pandemic.

Most over-50s now work for several years longer than their counterparts in the mid-90s, according to ONS. Rising State Pension Ages have mainly fuelled the need to work for longer until pensions kick in.

The average age of exit from the labour market has also risen for males and females over the past year. In 2021, the average age of exit for men was aged 65.1 years, increasing by 0.3 years to 65.4 in 2022. This matched the average age of exit in 1970. 

The average age of exit for women was 64 in 2021, rising to 64.3 in 2022, nearly four years above women's typical labour market exit age of 60.6 in 1995.

ONS said that from the mid-1990s to the start of the pandemic, the employment rate for people aged 50 to 64 years increased significantly, from 57.2% in 1995 to 72.5% in 2019.

From the mid-1990s up to the start of the pandemic, the average age of exit from the labour market rose steadily for males and females as the State Pension Age rose (previously 60 for women and 65 for men) rose under a government policy to equalise State Pension ages for men and women.

ONS added that while many over-50s wanted to continue working they, like other age groups, had been impacted in the labour market by the Covid-19 pandemic since March 2020. While there were recent signs of recovery, over the past year, due to the pandemic, the employment rate of people between 50 and 64 years dipped by 0.3 percentage points from 71.0% in 2021 to 70.7% in 2022.

Being sick, injured or disabled continues to be the main reason why people aged between 50 and 64 are economically inactive in the jobs market (39.1%, or 1.4m), although the number of people in this age group stating retirement as a reason for not seeking work is close behind (33.4% or 1.2m).

Nearly 760,000 people aged between 50 and 64 are either actively seeking work, or are inactive but are willing or would like to work, a fall from 810,000 in 2021. Some people have decided to retire early due to the pandemic but some experts believe the cost of living crisis will force many to 'unretire.'

Helen Morrissey, senior pensions and retirement analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said support was needed to halt the exit of over-50s from the workforce.

She said: "The pandemic has delivered a real blow to the employment prospects of older workers. After years of growth the 50-plus age group saw the largest increase in inactivity of any other age group with many choosing to retire after being furloughed or made redundant. 

"Retirement was a key reason for choosing to exit the workforce for the over 60s but it’s also worth saying that for the over 50s stress was a key factor, as was the need for some kind of lifestyle change. However, it is clear there are still many who want to remain or return to the workforce with over 760,000 saying they are willing to work. Someone in their 50s potentially has many years ahead of them.

"The current cost-of-living crisis will also have an impact on this group. There could be many who chose to retire who now find their pensions do not stretch far enough and so need to return to the workforce to top up their savings. Providing support to help these workers back into employment will be increasingly important over the coming months."

• ONS announced today it would not release any statistics until Monday as a mark of respect to the Queen. This report is based on data released earlier this week.