Early retirement or redundancy can sharply increase the likelihood that men in their 50s will spend their old age in poverty, according to new research.

Researchers from the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex found that men who have spent most of their working lives in occupations such as clerical or sales, skilled crafts, and personal or protective services may be especially vulnerable if they stop work early.

By contrast, low rates of participation in the labour market between the ages of 50 and 60 appear to make little difference to the chances of being poor in old age for women or also for men who worked in managerial, professional or manual occupations.

Forum Response: Age Concern

A spokeswoman for Age Concern told ePolitix.com: "One of the reasons why many people are not in a position to save for their retirement is because they are forced out of the work place because of their age.

"Nearly three million over 50s of working age don't have jobs and for many of them this is not due to voluntary early retirement. In the past 20 years the proportion of men between 50 and state pension age who are not working has doubled and this is not in anyone's interests - age discrimination costs the UK economy £31 billion every year."

Forum Response: National Association of Pension Funds

A spokesman for the National Association of Pension Funds told ePolitix.com: "For millions of today's pensioners, company pensions have provided a secure and comfortable income in retirement. But as life expectancy has increased, average retirement ages have come down.

"It is simply not realistic to expect a shorter working life to provide for a longer retirement. Today's report illustrates the plain fact that tomorrow's pensioners must expect to work longer, or save more, or both."