§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the impact of early retirement on pension provision. [65017]
§ Mr. McCartney[holding answer 27 June 2002]: If people choose to retire early, they must save more over the years that they are working to achieve the same retirement income.
282WThe Government believe that people should be able to make an informed choice when they plan their retirement, so that they have accumulated sufficient pension savings to provide the income they wish to receive. Our pension forecasting programme will help to achieve this by showing savers how much they can expect on retirement at state pension age.
The Government are also committed to active ageing. We are tackling age discrimination in employment, not least so that older people have increased opportunities to retain or find work, and are not forced into early retirement. Our Age Positive campaign promotes to employers the business benefits of an age-diverse work force, including the recruitment and retention of older workers. We are encouraging employers to adopt more flexible approaches to retirement for the benefits it can offer businesses and the increased choice and opportunities it offers individuals for a later more active retirement. The report 'Flexible Retirement—a snapshot of large employers' initiatives', published on 17 June, showed that some larger companies are indeed adopting more flexible retirement policies. There are also signs nationally that approaches to early retirement have been changing, as each year for the last four years the employment rate of people aged 50 to state pension age has increased faster than the overall employment rate.