Working until 70 isn’t so bad provided you feel 55

DENMARK’S recent move to increase the statutory retirement age to 70 for those born after 1970 – the highest in Europe – highlights an obvious and potentially troubling reality: Most of us are facing longer working lives, but that also means we need to remain healthier for longer.

While linking the pensionable threshold to improving longevity is fair, up to a point, doing so risks exacerbating health inequalities because the poor become sick and die sooner than the rich. So the focus must be on extending healthy life expectancy for everyone.

Closing the gap between lifespans and so-called healthspans can help build public support for later retirement, because fewer years are spent with serious illness or disability, leaving more quality time with grandchildren, on the golf course or at the bingo hall.