This research examines current patterns of work and retirement in the UK among people over age 50 and considers how these might change in the future. The Government has introduced a range of policies and programmes aimed at extending working lives such as policies aimed at moving people off benefits and into paid work, changes to the age at which people can receive state pension and benefit income, and the removal of legal barriers to working longer. The research looks at international experience of similar policy changes and considers what lessons the UK might learn from them. Finally, the research considers what patterns of work and retirement might mean for income adequacy in retirement.