When Tom Morton retired towards the end of 2020, he was optimistic about the next stage of his life, ABC News reports.
"I was really looking forward to retirement, I wanted to do different things. I think I wanted to live more of a contemplative life," he says.
"I also had this novel that I've been working on for 10 years. And I thought, oh, great, I'll be able to finish the novel and write sonnets, all that sort of thing.
"I finished the novel. And then I got really depressed.
"I was staring into the existential void and thinking, 'Who the hell am I now?'"
So, the former academic and journalist made the decision to return to the workforce.
He's among an increasing number of Australians taking part in what's been dubbed the great unretirement – reconsidering their retirement plans and instead finding their own way to approach this later-life stage.
Between 2019 and 2022, more than 179,000 Australians over the age of 55 rejoined the workforce.
"Since the onset of COVID, the Australian labour market added about half a million workers roughly, and about a third of those have been in this 55-plus age group. So quite a remarkable percentage," KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley tells ABC RN's This Working Life.
Sometimes that return to work is out of necessity. The rising cost of living could have played a role here. In the past 12 months until March 2023, household inflation rose 7 per cent.
Joey Moloney, a senior associate at the Grattan Institute, says about half of Australian retirees initially retired involuntarily.
It's typically white-collar workers that can choose how long they'll keep working, he adds.
FULL STORY
Why the great unretirement movement has been on the rise in Australia in the past three years (ABC News)
PHOTO
These days, Tom Morton and his partner Eurydice enjoy refining their green thumbs in their spare time. (Supplied: Tom Morton)
