1 in 8 workers forced to retire early due to ill health or disability

Ill health and disability is forcing an eighth of the workforce to leave the world of work before they reach pensionable age, new research from the TUC has found.

The trade union also found that those in the south-west of England (one in 13) were least likely to retire early due to ill health when compared to those in north of England, Scotland and Wales (one in seven), and Northern Ireland (one in four)  – the BBC reports.

Those in low-paid or manual work were twice as likely to stop working for the reasons above than professionals or managers.

Frances O’Grady, the TUC’s General Secretary, said: “These figures show that we must hold off on any further rises in the pension age until we have worked out how to support the one in eight workers who are too ill to work before they even get to state pension age.