 continued to rise after the initial shock of the coronavirus. Labour statistics show it is concentrated in the age group of 50 to 64, accounting for almost 70 per){kind=link}
Life expectancy in Britain till 2020, before the pandemic, had increased over the previous 40 years. Despite a slowing towards the end of that period, official statistics project further increases by the mid-2040s. That is good news but it implies a big economic adjustment. Coupled with declining fertility rates, it indicates there will be progressively more retirees supported by fewer people of working age, who will suffer a heavy burden of taxation to pay for welfare and healthcare.
Britain is the only developed economy where the rate of economic inactivity (people neither working nor seeking work) continued to rise after the initial shock of the coronavirus. Labour statistics show it is concentrated in the age group of 50 to 64, accounting for almost 70 per
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