Average age of retirement increases The average age of retirement has risen, official figures showed today, as those approaching state pension age struggle to pay for their later years. People are working longer as the average age at which they leave the labour market rose from 63.8 years to 64.6 years for men and from 61.2 years to 62.3 years for women between 2004 and 2010, the Office for National Statistics said. Elsewhere, the figures showed that increasing the state pension age will reduce the burden of an ageing population on the working masses. There were 3.2 people of working age supporting each person of state pension age and over in 2010, and without any changes to the state pension age, this ratio would drop to two by 2051 - piling greater pressure on the working population. But under current legislation the state pension age has already started to increase for women and will rise to 68 for both sexes by 2046, meaning 2.9 people of working age will support each person of state pension age by 2051.