How 100000 are forced to retire at 65

"Wrong": Michelle Mitchell, director of Age Concern, said iorkers have should not have "expiry dates" when they hit 65

More than 100,000 workers were forced to retire against their will last year because they had reached their 65th birthday, research reveals today.

The findings highlight the nightmare facing workers in their sixties who cannot afford to stop working - but are told to by their bosses.

Charity Age Concern and Help the Aged, which funded the research, said it was wrong that older workers were given "an expiry date".

At present, a boss can get rid of any worker once they reach the age of 65, which is Britain"s "default retirement age."

The charity"s research, published today, exposes the dire consequences which this is causing for a generation of workers who desperately need to keep on earning.

With poor pensions, no savings and large mortgages, millions have no choice but to carry on.

Michelle Mitchell, a director of the charity said that "forced retirement" has become a major problem.

It predicts the problem will escalate, with around 250,000 workers aged 60 to 64 fearing that they are "likely or certain" to be booted out on or after their 65th birthday.

Nine in ten people in their 60s said they "oppose" forced retirement, and want to be able to carry on working if they choose to do so.

She said: "Our survey clearly shows the use of forced retirement has spiralled out of control.

"It offers some employers a low-cost shortcut to shed jobs during the recession." It is calling for the default retirement age to be scrapped.

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A Government review into the controversial subject has just ended, and a decision is expected later in the year. It is widely expected to be abolished it.

The financial pressure on people in their 60s is extreme given the huge social changes in recent years.

Many are men who have young families from their second marriage, which means they are still facing the huge cost of raising school-age children.

Others have elderly parents who are a burden on their finances, such as paying their care home fees. Many people have both elderly parents and young children, dubbed the "sandwich generation."

One in five people over the age of 55 still have a mortgage, including a shocking six per cent of people over the age of 75, according to the insurance giant Aviva.

Official figures show a record number of people who have reached state pension age, currently 65 for men and 60 for women, are working.

More than 1.4million pensioners have jobs, but there are many more who need to work but struggle to find a job.

Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at the financial advisers Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The reality is that most people simply cannot afford to retire."

He urged people to "save as much as you can as soon as you can", although many workers cannot afford to follow such sensible advice.

A recent survey, from the Chartered Institue of Personnel and Development, found 70 per cent of workers aged 55 and above said the financial crisis leaves them with no option but to shelve their retirement plans.

Some business leaders fear that the move would be disastrous, and leave them with an elderly workforce which would "bedblock" the chance to hire younger, cheaper workers.