![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/picture-shows-caroline-duddridge-62-718319864.jpg\")
\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/caroline-duddridge-supplied-857909964.jpg\")
<\/p>\nUPDATING her resume Caroline Duddridge, 64,\u00a0 asks her daughter Amanda, 36, for advice on what employers like and don't like in job applications.<\/p>\n
The nan-of-six takes copious notes and Amanda explains she needs to remember the correct pronouns of people she meets.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Her daughter also suggests her mum, a former teacher, who lives on a widow's pension, do some \u201ctop up courses\u201d in safeguarding, and student on student bullying.<\/p>\n
Undeterred by the long \u201cto do list\u201d, 64-year-old Caroline, who retired from teaching in 2018,\u00a0 is up for the challenge to begin her fifth decade in the workforce.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnretiring and\u00a0going back to work is the only way I can have enough money to cope with the rising cost of living crisis,\u201d she tells The Sun.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a grey rinse grafter who is now back at work to pay the bills.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy widow's pension isn't enough. I\u00a0 have gone back to school to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of pottering around the garden, I am monitoring the school playground at lunchtime.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is staff meetings for me, not garden club meetings with other OAP\u2019s for me as I unretire to work at least two days a week as a teaching assistant at a local school.<\/p>\n Caroline first started working as a teacher 40\u00a0 years ago and never imagined at 64 years old that she\u2019d be down on her knees, bending over primary school tables helping youngsters with finger painting, maths and English.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis wasn't the plan. It\u2019s scary for me. It\u2019s terrifying for many other people who now face a penniless retirement unless they work part or full-time," she says. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not the only one who can\u2019t afford to be retired. Many of my friends are the same. I am a \u2018pensioner seeking employment\u2019."<\/p>\n The cost of living crisis, spiralling inflation and volatile financial markets mean pensioners in their sixties and seventies are forced to spend the day scouring wanted ads rather than enjoying their twilight years.<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t stop working now until my eighties. It\u2019s a case of grafting to the grave," she added.<\/p>\n \u201cI am not complaining. I come from a generation that does what they have to do to get by and be prepared for old age emergencies on my widows pension of \u00a31,126 a month.\u201d<\/p>\n Caroline now works two days a week as a supply teaching assistant at local primary schools, as well as working as a carer for her elderly mum, when she isn't in the classroom.<\/p>\n \u201cI was offered TA work at secondary schools but dealing with teenagers would be worrying for me now,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cI used to teach secondary school but unretiring and teaching older students I\u00a0 do think my age would be a problem. Some kids in secondary school are incredibly intimidating.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d feel worried about not being able to control them. The littlies at primary school are lovely. I\u00a0 am just grateful for the work.\u201d<\/p>\n Caroline has signed up to an agency which provides supply teachers and TAs.<\/p>\n She now works two or three days a week at local primary schools doing everything from TA work, playground duty and school gate monitoring.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly hard work but I love it\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n \u201cMy knees and back have seen better days but with the reception and year one kids you have to be up and down all the time. <\/p>\n "I get the best results helping them when I am eye to eye on their level.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of pottering around the garden I am monitoring the playground at lunchtime.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt is staff meetings for me, not coffee mornings,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a new member of the grey rinse grafter brigade\u00a0I am teaching alongside men and women I taught thirty years ago. I am teaching the grandchildren of children I taught decades ago.<\/p>\n \u201cI may be an OAP but I am still taking the register, giving out homework and taking control of the blackboard.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no\u00a0 \u2018OAP around the world trip\u2019 for me. I am back to timecards, teaching and constant retraining to ensure I can pay the gas and electric bills,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Caroline isn't alone in having to unretire and represents the new breed of \u201cgrey rinse grafters\u201d having to unretire to make ends meet.<\/p>\n She is just one of the nearly 900,000 Britons aged over 70 which a Retirement Villages Group report reveals are heading back to work or staying longer in part- or full-time work since the pandemic and cost of living crisis.<\/p>\n The Office of National Statistics reveals there are now more people aged 50 and older in work or looking for work than before the pandemic hit.<\/p>\n More than half the total increase is among men aged over 65,\u00a0 whose economic activity levels increased by 66,000, or 8.5%, in a year, with 37,000, or 6.8%, more women over 65 in or looking for work.<\/p>\n Caroline lives in fear of "pensioner poverty" and "retirement ruin".<\/p>\n \u201cBefore Covid I thought I\u2019d have enough to retire on with the widows pension and downsizing our home," she says. <\/p>\n \u201cThe cost of living price hikes and the fear that grips every person I know who\u2019s retired is unrelenting.<\/p>\n \u201cMy husband and I were always planners. Now that planning is out the window.\u201d<\/p>\n Caroline graduated from teachers college when she was 24\u00a0 and started her career in state schools.<\/p>\n \u201cI loved teaching primary and secondary students.<\/p>\n She married Brian Duddridge in 1979 and the couple had five children now aged 18, 35, 33, 30 and 25.<\/p>\n Brian worked for the Welsh Assembly as a civil servant and Caroline continued to work part-time and casually as a teacher while raising their five children.<\/p>\n \u201cMoney was tight. We kept to a tight budget and always saved for a rainy day, she says.<\/p>\n \u201cThat day has come and it\u2019s a deluge of worry and anxiety over money.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI didn't go back to work full time until after our eldest was in school.<\/p>\n \u201cWe scrimped and saved and were always frugal, especially with five children.<\/p>\n Tragically in 2015 Brian died of cancer aged 67.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was devastating. He was the love of my life and we\u2019d planned to spend our twilight years together.<\/p>\n \u201cSuddenly my expendable income was halved. I was working part-time as a TA and started receiving a widow's pension of\u00a0\u00a31,169 but making ends meet was considerably harder."<\/p>\n Caroline\u2019s council tax is \u00a3128 a month, her heating and gas \u00a3300 in winter,\u00a0 groceries cost\u00a0 \u00a3200 a month while petrol and car insurance eat into another \u00a3150.<\/p>\n Caroline spends \u00a360 on her internet and phone and says each month once the water bill\u00a0and other expenditures on her house are taken into account, she\u2019s left with \u00a3100.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople may think \u00a3100 is a lot but it gets eaten up quickly if I need the car serviced, some DIY done or a lunch with my friends," she says.<\/p>\n \u201cI cut my own hair. I recycle clothes and repair what I can and use pound shop <\/strong>face cream to save money.<\/p>\n \u201cI need my car to work. When I am not teaching I am a full-time carer for mum. I also babysit the grandkids. I am more busy now than I have ever been.<\/p>\n \u201cI even charge the kids for Christmas dinner because of a lack of cash.<\/p>\n \u201cI discovered living on your own was incredibly expensive. Many widowers experience this as well as pensioners.\u00a0<\/p>\n In fact, Caroline says buying and cooking for one is as expensive as buying for two and radically downsizing her home was the only option after her husband passed away was the only option.<\/p>\n Caroline sold the couple's six-bedroom home for \u00a3410,000 and bought a two-bedroom house for \u00a3212,000.<\/p>\n \u201cI helped the children out with their mortgages and put a little in the bank and cleared credit card debt. I had a tight budget but I didn't factor in skyrocketing inflation and price hikes, she says.<\/p>\n Then in 2018 Caroline was made redundant after a shake-up at the hospital where she helped run a school for ill children four days a week.<\/p>\n \u201cI got \u00a312,000 and I split that with my children no expecting and thought I could manage on the widows pension.<\/p>\n After lockdown, Caroline knew her retirement funds would not last and also admits she missed working.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d retired but I still wanted to give back. I was lonely and having a coffee with pals was lovely but without my husband I missed the hustle and bustle of work.<\/p>\n When Caroline nervously contacted a local job agency they welcomed her with open arms.<\/p>\n \u201cI was worried I was too old. The agency said I\u2019d be in demand.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cStaff explained I had decades of teaching knowledge and would not only be in demand\u00a0 with schools but I could mentor younger TA\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was genuinely shocked. To realise I was still needed and wanted in the workforce as a grey rinse grafter was amazing.<\/p>\n \u201cI was realistic about the physical demands of teaching with the agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI explained that secondary students would be too overwhelming. <\/p>\n "I also knew physically working full-time would be shattering at my age but I\u2019d take on as many days as possible.<\/p>\n \u201cIt did mean some re-training and skills updating but I love showing my kids and grandkids I am not \u2018over the hill yet.\u2019"<\/p>\n For Caroline realising that employers and schools valued her skillset and needed her, even as an OAP TA, made the return to work easier.<\/p>\n Caroline explains her \u201cunretirement\u201d is more fulfilling than when she first started her career.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s invigorating. It\u2019s keeping me focused and I do feel younger," she said.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cThe relief I have in knowing I am able to pay my bills and put money aside for my \u2018second retirement\u2019 is immense.<\/p>\n \u201cRetirement working is part two of my career. It\u2019s the next chapter.<\/p>\n \u201cBut like all unretired workers I worry illness or simply old age will begin to limit my second working life.<\/p>\n \u201cI live daily with the anxiety that I have to work as many shifts as I can to replenish the retirement coffers. The fear I feel is real and I am not alone."<\/p>\n Those getting a state pension and still on a low income could be entitled to extra support through pension credit.<\/p>\n It's estimated that around \u00a31.7billion of the help is going unclaimed, plus it unlocks extra perks, like a free TV Licence.<\/p>\n Find out\u00a0who's eligible and how to claim.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/crop-24286622.jpg\")
<\/picture>WORK IT OUT <\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m a gran of four – I have to go back to work at 74 or I\u2019ll end up homeless<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/d6ad8990-79b2-414f-ab5b-ad9934885ee2.jpg\")
<\/picture>STRUCK GOLD <\/span><\/p>\nMartin Lewis' MSE reveals how to track down lost cash as woman reclaims \u00a313,500<\/h3>\n
Most read in Money<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tp-composite-trivial-pursuit.jpg\")
<\/picture>PIE-Q TEST <\/span><\/p>\nCan you solve Trivial Pursuit’s hardest questions with our quiz as game turns 45<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GM_07-11_KINGS-SPEECH_COMP-5.jpg\")
<\/picture>ROYAL DECREE <\/span><\/p>\nSmoking ban slammed by some as ‘daft idea’ who moan it ‘won’t work’<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Screenshot-2023-11-07-091355.png\")
<\/picture>XMAS MAGIC <\/span><\/p>\nJohn Lewis teases Christmas ad leaving shoppers ‘excited’ & reveals release date<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/newspress-collage-24653958-1699361333364.jpg\")
<\/picture>HEDGE YOUR BETS <\/span><\/p>\nOur neighbour’s towering 13ft hedge blocks our sunlight so we took revenge<\/h3>\n
'It's incredibly hard work but I love it'<\/h2>\n
'My income was halved when my husband died'<\/h2>\n
Read More on The Sun<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/newspress-collage-24665012-1699398879686.jpg\")
<\/picture>![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/business-shops-food-greggs-pie-804628174-1.jpg\")
<\/picture>