Middle class workers aged 50 and above are being forced to delay their retirement until they are 'at least 70', with many blaming their children, a report revealed yesterday.

It said their retirement dreams are being crushed with most postponing their retirement date by around five years.

The report, from the investment firm Heartwood, said the delay is 'not driven by a love of their job, but by concerns of their ability to fund their retirement'.

It is not just the soaring cost of living which is triggering the delay. Many blame the fact that they are constantly having to bail out their grown-up children at an age when they presumed they would be financially independent.

Asked about the reason for the delay, one in five middle class workers said they 'needed to keep working in order to support their children'.

Many grown-up children need help to get on to the property ladder, while others ask their parents to clear their university debts.

More than 40 per cent said they plan to remain in work 'for an average of five years longer that they had originally planned'. Around one in four said they will delay their retirement until they are aged 70 or above.

Many are planning to 'semi-retire', which means they will stop working full-time to switch to part-time work.

Simon Lough, chief executive of Heartwood, said longer periods of semi-retirement are 'increasingly becoming the norm' among wealthier people in their 50s and 60s.

He added: 'In many cases, they are being faced with greater demands being placed on their pension pots, rises in the cost of living and unexpected financial commitments, such as supporting their children for longer than they had originally anticipated.'

It comes as a separate report, from the pensions giant Scottish Widows, found one in four women is saving 'nothing at all' for their retirement, compared to 17 per cent of men. This leaves many forced to rely on the State pension, which is just ￡102.15 a week if they are eligible for the full amount.

To make matters worse, the age when a woman can claim her State pension is being increased. It used to be 60 but it will reach 66 in 2020 – and will continue to rise in the future.

(Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)