The numbers of people employed past retirement age are growing faster than any other section of the labour market, according to official data that signal a significant change in the way Britons work and perhaps an even more profound change in the way they retire.

By March 2008, 1.3m men and women beyond the ages of, respectively, 65 and 60, were in the workforce, a rise of 8.8 percent year on year. This was a much sharper rise than that for any other age group. The second most marked rise is occurring among those aged between 50 and retirement age, the point where a decade ago employers offered generous early retirement packages in order to shed their more expensive workers.

The data tell an important story: as lifespans expand and retirement benefits shrink, growing numbers are entering, or refusing to leave, workplaces gradually changing their perception of the ideal worker.

“Older people are the only growing group in the labour market,” said Stephen McNair, head of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, a think tank on adult learning. “The positive message is that most people over the age of 50 would like to stay in the workforce longer than they thought they would be allowed.”

The data show among men aged 50 to 64 and women aged 50 to 59, there are 6.6m workers, more than there are at the prime working ages of25 to 34. The year-on-year rate of increase in the number of these older workers is 2.1 per cent.

In part, the shift reflects an underlying demographic change as fertility rates among Britons have dropped sharply in recent decades. But it also reflects rising longevity – a man born in 1950 who hits his 65th birthday will, on average, live to a few months shy of his 90th – and better health at older ages.

It demonstrates the fact that for some people, work is not the drudgery of the mill or the mine but rather a place to establish social networks and to participate in wider society.

英国官方数据显示，在英国劳动力市场，超过退休年龄的就业者人数增长快过其它任何一个年龄段，意味着英国人的工作方式发生了重大变化，而他们退休方式可能发生着更为意义深远的变化。

截至2008年3月，65岁以上的男性和60岁以上的女性共有130万人仍在职场中，较上年同期增长了8.8%。该增速远远高于其它任何一个年龄组。增幅第二显著的是50岁至退休年龄之间的劳动力——十年前，雇主们曾向这个年龄段的雇员提供丰厚的提前退休金，以摆脱这些更为昂贵的员工。

数据说明了一个重要的现实：随着人类寿命的延长和退休福利的缩水，越来越多的人正在进入或拒绝离开职场，逐渐地改变着他们对理想员工的理解。

“年长者是劳动力市场上唯一在增长的群体，”英国国家成人继续教育研究所(National Institute of Adult Continuing Education)负责人、成人教育智囊人士斯蒂芬•麦克奈尔(Stephen McNair)表示。“其传递的积极信息是：50岁以上的人多数希望，他们在职场中呆的时间长于他们所认为的规定年限。”

数据显示，在50岁至64岁的男性和50岁至59岁的女性中，共有660万工作者，超过了25岁至34岁最佳工作年龄段的劳动力总数。这部分年长劳动力人数较上年同期增长2.1%。

随着英国人口出生率在最近几十年的急剧下降，该变化在一定程度上反映了人口结构的潜在改变，但也反映出不断延长的寿命和老年人更为健康的身体状况。一个出生于1950年的人，在65岁生日以后，普遍能活到将近90岁。

这证明了一项事实：对一些人而言，工作并不是养家糊口的苦差事，而是一处建立社交网络、参与更广阔社会的舞台。

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