New survey shows 1 in 3 Australians in their late 60s still working

ABC NEWS (Australia)

This year's annual household, income and labour dynamics survey has been released, and it paints a pretty gloomy picture. Australians are retiring later, have fewer friends, are less fertile and are reporting more physical pain.

Transcript

00:00The HILDA survey, it's a very long-running study.

00:04We started back in 2001, and we've been interviewing the same people every year since, as well as

00:10their children, and in some cases, their grandchildren.

00:13So we are, I mean, retiring later than ever before, and it's mostly, I think, for good

00:20reasons, as in, you know, we have higher life expectancy.

00:24People are retiring much less because they have to and much more because they want to.

00:30So when we, in the early days of the HILDA survey, we found it was much more common for

00:34people to report that they retired because they lost their job or their health wasn't

00:38holding up.

00:39That health is still an important factor, but it's much less so now.

00:43And so people are seeming to be able to retire a lot more when they feel financially ready.

00:49Of course, the other side of that is that perhaps people are feeling, certain people feel that

00:55they have to work longer to be financially ready, you know, particularly if you don't

00:59own a home or you're still paying off the mortgage, that could be a factor in delaying

01:05retirement.

01:06We're seeing a big decline in the number of friends people report having.

01:12And, you know, but it's across all age groups.

01:15And, yeah, it's certainly, I think, a cause for concern because having good social networks

01:23and regular in-person social contact is associated with a lot of positive well-being outcomes,

01:31so improved mental health and improved, you know, general economic and social well-being.

01:38I have a little bit of thought at most of thelines.

01:45Alright.

01:47Let's get started.

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