“The State of Ageing report from the Centre for Ageing Better presents a compelling argument for action on age in the UK. This need has been exacerbated by Covid, but unfortunately not caused by it. Until recently we were celebrating the record level of people over 50 in employment – with 1 in 3 UK workers now in that age bracket. This progress has now gone into decline. We risk people, who want and need to work, falling out of the labour market for good. This would mean millions of people struggling with long-term unemployment in the years when they planned to be saving for their future. As glum as it may sound these people would, instead, head inexorably towards pension poverty.
“We know that it is people over 50 who take longer to find a job than any other age group. The fact is that the likelihood of a person over 50 being out of work after 12 months is double that of a person under the age of 25. The evidence shows that the number of people aged over 50 who are claiming unemployment benefits has doubled since March. Every age matters but those who are older have less time to recover their finances. We support the Centre for Ageing Better’s call to action for all employers to value an age-diverse workforce and to ensure they offer flexible working arrangements and training to workers of all ages. We also need government to offer targeted support, including opportunities for those with long careers in shut-down sectors to retrain. Businesses and society can’t afford to lose the experience and diversity of those aged over 50 from the workforce.”
The State of Ageing in 2020
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