Research from Zurich showed one in five over-50s have had to stop work due to ill health.
The survey of 2,000 over-50s in employment and retired, which found that despite current financial pressures, one in five (21%) were forced to stop working early due to ill health.
A further 16% retired before the state pension age to care for a loved one.
But a third of those in this age group would be able to stay in work for longer if a greater number of flexible working opportunities were available, and a further 28% said they could be tempted out of retirement if they simply had the option to work from home.
Despite this, data from Timewise showed only 12% of job vacancies in the UK offered part-time hours and many of these were much lower paid roles.
The research followed a warning from the Bank of England that marked rise in economic inactivity among over-50s could hold back growth, with 386,000 leaving the workforce since the pandemic.
Health & Protection spoke to Charmaine Wise (pictured), a 56-year-old underwriting auditor with the insurer, about how its group risk benefits helped her stay in work.
In 2000, Wise was diagnosed with a rare form of Ovarian cancer called Granula Cell tumour. When she was first diagnosed, she had a full hysterectomy and six months of chemotherapy.
Since then, she has had intermittent treatment when the cancer has re-appeared – which it has done every two to three years. This has involved surgery, chemotherapy, and then more recently, radiotherapy.
But last year, Wise reached the stage where she did not feel well enough to work at the same pace anymore as her role involved regular travel and her treatment was making her too fatigued.
While she initially assumed she would need to change jobs or take early retirement, a cancer support group run for employees signposted her to information about occupational health and income protection benefits if she needed to access them as well as rehabilitation support that is available to help employees remain in work.
Having reached out to Zurich’s people team for help, shortly after a referral was made to occupational health with the view of making adjustments that would support her in her role.
“Following all of my treatment I think I’ve taken a battering mentally and didn’t recognise what I brought to the business,” Wise told Health & Protection.
“But through Zurich’s people team and my manager, I’ve been made aware that my years of experience and knowledge are hugely valuable.
“I’m fully supported in this process now and in the case that my situation changes in the future. As well as help with reconfiguring my working hours I have access to specialist nurses whenever I need them.
“This has given me so much peace of mind about the future.”
