Dee Flower joined the autism charity Little Gate Farm as a consultant after trying out retirement. Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian
Dee Flower tried to retire last year, at the age of 68. It seemed, the former recruitment specialist said, like a good idea. “I found myself thinking, ‘I guess it’s about time to retire now.’”
Flower’s decision to reverse the move a month later is one of the reasons the British economy set a new employment record this week. The number of people employed in the UK is at its highest since records began in 1971 – 32.7 million people – and workers over the age of 50 are a key factor in the peak.
Describing her U-turn, Flower added: “I thought, ‘Oh my God, what have I done? I don’t want to retire!’ I felt I’d lost my sense of purpose.”
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Still ambitious for a challenge, however, Flower decided not to return to her old job. “I felt I needed to think about something completely different,” she said.
Flower attended job fairs, and after eight months joined the Sussex-based autism charity, Little Gate Farm, as a consultant, promoting their young people to employers.
“My new line managers are the same age as my children,” she said. “And that’s completely fine with me. In fact, it’s great. I feel so much happier now than when I was retired.”
Flower also represents another twist to the official job figures. According to new research, twice as many women over the age of 65 are employed in the workplace today compared with a decade ago.
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