Of women not enjoying retirement, some admit struggling financially and others poor health (Image: Getty)
At least two out of 10 of women have a lower quality of life in because of their health compared to 18% of men, and a further 10% of women worry about their heath, the report found.
One of the main reasons given for dreading giving up the 9 to 5 for good was boredom with 14% of women said they were not looking forward to taking a due to a lack of activities to keep them busy, of those women who were already retired 16% said they were bored.
Men surveyed for the Scottish Widows report, were less likely to be worried about being bored with only 9% saying they had too little to do. Men were also more optimistic about retirement in general, 30% compared to 41% of women.
The pension provider found evidence the gender pension gap was forcing 31% of women to keep working when they’re no longer fit or healthy due to money worries, and that 17% of women are not finding retirement enjoyable and don’t have the freedom they expected – compared to 8% of men.
Women also appeared to miss the social aspect of working life with 14% saying they were lonely, compared to 9% of men who are not enjoying retirement.
Jackie Leiper, managing director at Scottish Widows, said retirement was different for everyone.
“For some it’s a time to stop work, relax, and enjoy the time they have on their hands, while for others there’s a need to keep working, driven by a desire to stay busy or add some important savings to their retirement pots.“We know that women and men experience retirement differently. Our data shows that a fifth (17%) of women don’t enjoy retirement. This can be for a number of reasons but they say that one is the ongoing responsibilities many say they still have. There’s rarely an off switch when looking after a household and for women in particular, living longer, means they are likely to take on caring roles for loved ones.“On the other hand, for women who do cut down working hours or stop working altogether, they can often feel a lack of purpose and drive – particularly for those who’ve had a career spanning many decades.”
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Carol was a headteacher but found retirement boring and has a new career as best-selling author (Image: Carol McKinlay)
Retiring made me feel like I was waiting to die
Carol McKinlay is 61 and lives with her husband Andrew, 69 in Edinburgh. She took early retirement at 54 after working for over 30 years as a teacher. She was the headteacher at a school which had just recieved an outstanding Ofsted report when she decided it was time to give up full-time work.
“I had just had the news that our school had scored an outstanding accross the board from Ofsted but my father was dying and he only had a few weeks to live.
Carol had also just met her now husband, added: “I was in Liverpool and he was a professor at university in Edinburgh. His wife had just died.
“We decided life’s too short and settled on living in Edinburgh.
“We got married which was lovely and it was great to come home as I’m from Edinburgh. My youngest daughter had just had a baby so I became a gran. It was all wonderful, for the first six or seven months.
“At first it felt like an extended summer holiday but then I got so bored.
“I started to feel depressed. Everyday felt the same and although I loved seeing my grandhchild, I felt I had lost my identity and my purpose in life. I was really bored.
“I thought I’ll go to the gym. I did and I made lots of good friends, I also went swimming and did gardening.
“Then I had this realisation. I thought all I’m doing is filling my time as though I’m waiting to die. I was utterly bored. I missed work so much.”
Then Carol saw an online advert asking for entries for a short story competition.
“Writing had never entered my mind although I did it when I was young. I was from a real working class council house background so I considered it a hobby.
“The topic they wanted was the word blether. I was really grieving my father, who was a blether.
“I wanted to write about how I felt about him. I was shocked when I was told it had been chosen as one of the stories to be published.
“So I decided to write a book about three woman, I’ve got two sisters so it felt familiar to me.
“Then I had something that I wanted to wake up for. Once I was finished I got a literary agent and four weeks late a publisher.
My book The Storyteller made the made the Amazon top 100 and it has helped me carve out a new career. As well as having other short stories published I’m a literary scout. Publisher send me manuscripts and I send back reports on how good they are, whether it could be adapted for film or TV.
“I also do some TV reviewing for a newspape rand I continue to write.
“I’m still amazed at how everything has worked out.”
Caroline enjoys travelling with her family but is not sure she is ready to retire full time (Image: Caroline Welsh)
I’m not sure I want to retire yet I’ll miss my workmates
Caroline Welsh, is 65 years old and lives in Cornwall. She works two days a week for the child maintenance service, part of the Department for Work and Pensions.
She took semi-retirement three years ago and has now worked there for 25 years.
“I’m an administration officer, so I have to answering the phone and dealing with people’s accounts.”
Caroline is planning to leave the job this spring but although officially she is meant to be retiring she expects she will take just the summer off and return to some kind of work in the autumn.
She admits having mixed feelings about leaving work as her ex-army husband Brian, retired a few years ago.
“I’ve made lifelong friends there so I know I’m going to miss coming into the office and seeing everyone. Although things have changed since , there are not so many people in the office.”
The work itself can be emotionally gruelling as Caroline finds herself dealing with parents whose relationships have broken down.
“I find I have to be both a secretary and a counsellor, it is very rewarding but it can be sad too.”
Caroline’s husband Brian enjoys planning the couple’s trips and they go on about three holidays abroad a year.
The mum of two, whose daughters are in their early 30s, has already dipped into her personal pension. “I’ve taken out the 25 per cent cash free lump sum and that will be ‘my wages’ during the summer, it will keep me going till I work out what I want to do next.”
The rest of her pension remains invested and she will start drawing her later this year when she turns 66.
While she will miss her colleagues Caroline has made a new circle of friends at her local health club. “I’ve got friends from work and also friends that I do pilates and go to the gym with.
“My husband was a debt advisor at the Citizen’s Advice so he is quite clued up on consumer affairs and now I am too. I’d like to work in that area, maybe as a mystery shopper.”