If the UK’s labourforce is a kind of hive mind, then it is daydreaming about life after work.
Since the beginning of 2020, economic inactivity has spiked. And while rising long-term sickness has played a big role, a 2022 House of Lords report found that the leading cause of falling worker numbers has been the early retirement of those aged between 50 and 64.
At the same time, the imaginations of a younger generation have been captured by the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) movement. By cutting spending to the bone, and investing as effectively, as early, and as much as possible, FIRE advocates seek to accumulate enough wealth to survive on passive income as soon as they can, thereby allowing them to take an ‘opt in’ approach to work.