The Telegraph reports...

....that between April 1992 and December 2010 the percentage of people aged 50 to 64 in work rose from 56.5% to 64.9%, with the number over 64 in work rising from 5.5% to 9%.

There are various reasons for this
including the cost of retirement. However at the other end the number of 18 - 24 year olds working fell over that period from 65.8% to just 58%.
Higher education has delayed people's entry into employment, but the
real reason is the jobs are simply not being created