As someone who was able to retire relatively early some 13 years ago, I read this article with interest (Early retirement in England increasingly preserve of wealthy, report shows, 1 November). The one glaring omission in it was that it took no account of what all the “wealthy” retirees are doing with their time now.
As it only tracked those working in paid jobs, it ignored the army of retired men and women working as unpaid volunteers across the country in every part of civil society – food banks, places of worship and cultural centres to name but a few.
As public services everywhere have been starved of support and financial resources over the last 13 years, retirees have taken up the slack and are, in some cases, literally holding weakened organisations together. We should not be ignored!
Deborah Jarman
Bredenbury, Herefordshire
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