Older people are increasingly choosing to start their own businesses or contracting, one expert has said.

Rachel Krys, director of Inclusive Employers, claimed that older people responded to the recession by forming their own businesses, which explained in part the rising number of over-65s in work.

She pointed out that a lot of older people have "the capital, the confidence and the experience" to do so.

"There are other problems with youth unemployment, and I really don't think that older people are taking the jobs that the younger people would have taken, because when you do an analysis they are doing different types of jobs," explained Ms Krys.

Meanwhile, figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed that the number of over 65s in work has doubled over the past decade.

Additionally, between March 2008 and December 2010, the full-time employment rate was seen to fall by 7.4 per cent for people aged 16 to 24, while conversely rising by 0.5 per cent for over-65s.