The largest global survey into attitudes toward aging and retirement ever conducted has found that people around the world want to abandon traditional models of retirement in favour of self-sufficiency and a mix of work and leisure.

Given a choice, 36% of people think their government should enforce additional private savings, rather than: the 23% who believe that the the retirement age should be raised; the 12% who believe in raising taxes; and the 12% who want reduced pensions, according to HSBC’s Future of Retirement: What the world wants study, which surveyed 21,000 people and 6,000 companies in 20 countries and territories.

The survey also found that while many older people want to work, and most employers recognize their skills, opportunities are still limited.

Forty-three percent of individuals worldwide expressed a desire to fund their own retirement either through savings or by working later, perhaps part-time. But the research also revealed that, while 49% of the world’s employers recognize that older workers are just as productive and motivated as younger ones, most are slow to make the most of the opportunity they present.

Stephen Green, CEO of HSBC Holdings Plc, says: “HSBC’s Future of Retirement: What the world wants research shows that individuals increasingly expect to bear their own costs in later life, but governments and business must understand their role in continuing to support individuals. They cannot afford to shy away from the enormous challenges and opportunities presented by global ageing.”

HSBC’s research shows that individuals in most countries worldwide want to be primarily self-sufficient in funding their retirement. But a “confidence gap” exists as 30% of people worldwide believe the government should bear their costs in retirement, compared to just 21% who believe they will. Individuals also want governments to do more to help them help themselves, such as introducing enforced additional private savings.

Canadians are more likely than most respondents to believe that they themselves should bear most of the financial cost of their retirement (56% vs 43% globally). Canadians also are far less likely to rely on assistance from their children in their old age. Only 18% expect to live with their children (compared to 34% globally); 43% expect their children to care for them (compared to 52% globally); 13% expect their children to help pay living expenses (compared to 29% globally) and 16% expect their children to help pay medical expenses (compared to 30% globally).

Dr. Sarah Harper, director, the Oxford Institute of Aging, says: “The idea of a period of funded leisure at the end of one’s working life has become firmly established, evolving since the 1940s from being seen as a rest, to a reward and now as a right. For the first time, though, The Future of Retirement research shows support globally for some form of compulsory savings for retirement.”