A study conducted by the Centre for Research on the Economics of Ageing (CREA) at SMU’s School of Economics found that nearly half of men and a third of women aged 55 to 59 expect to still be working at the age of 65. About 19 per cent of women and 26 per cent of men also expect to be working at the age of 70. These were the results released by the Singapore Life Panel study, which surveyed an average of 8,000 Singaporeans and permanent residents aged 50 to 70 years old every month. The survey was started in 2015 with the aim of determining how prepared Singaporeans are in coping with the financial demands and risks associated with ageing.

Researchers added that factors such as the lack of pensions in Singapore may contribute to people working longer and that with Singapore gradually increasing the retirement age instead of retrenching older workers, people can expect to work longer.

SMU Senior Research Fellow Professor Susann Rohwedder, who is also a Senior Economist at US-based Rand Corporation said, “Internationally, what drives retirement are the institutions and financial incentives. When there’s a financial incentive to get out of work, you will get out.” Prof Rohwedder added, “Singapore has implemented a fairly rapid change in terms of raising the retirement age and with some success, as we can see in the labour force participation.” CREA’s Associate Director Jiaming Ju said that the eventual goal of these research findings is to “formulate policies that will improve the livelihoods of the elderly.”