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The 50+ Employment Commitment: Part One
The Centre for Ageing Better employment commitment is not just a desire; it has articulated six distinctive elements to bring this commitment to life.
While the new government (2024) is pursuing a growth agenda, it must be hoped that they will recognise that implementing these commitments will increase GDP by £9bn per year and increase income tax/national insurance contributions of £1.9bn per year (on conservative assumptions based on tax rates Sept-24).
Employment Support – Performance
The first element addresses the underperformance of existing employment support services for older age groups. Only 28% of 50 to 54-year-olds, 25% of 55 to 59-year-olds, and 19% of people aged 60+ achieve a positive outcome on the Work and Health Program, significantly below the overall average.
As part of the first commitment, the aim is to raise the performance of employment support for people aged 50 to 66 to match those in their 40s. Transparent publication of performance metrics and rigorous evaluation will be fundamental in achieving this outcome from government-funded employment support.
Employment Support – Investment
The second pillar is to increase investment in employment support for people in their 50s and 60s, ensuring targeted support is available nationwide for all unemployed individuals over 50. There are various ways this support could be delivered. For example, the 50+ Champions programs should be extended, evaluated, and improved. However, there is a broader range of workers than those currently accessing services through Job Centre Plus.
I have been involved with an organisation that sought to address the challenge that most job centres cannot fruitfully engage with professionals. For example, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority has an exciting “Support to Succeed” program.
Championing the Value of Good Work
Pillar three delivers an awareness and information campaign directed at employers of all sizes, championing the value of good work for people in their 50s and 60s. The Centre for Ageing Better has already built a movement of over 300 employers through the Age-Friendly Employer initiative. However, most employers want to know more about age-friendly employment, and 40% want this information from the government, as it would carry a different authority. This campaign should cover flexible working, all-age work style development, recruitment practices, health and work support, and tackling ageist workplace cultures.
Although this is separate from the commitments, I would also advocate for a thorough shake-up of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which has failed to develop a powerful remit around ageism as an established protected characteristic.
Upskill, Reskill, Develop
The fourth pillar is to expand the current Midlife Review pilots to create new opportunities for people to upskill, reskill, and develop in their 50s and 60s. For over twenty years, it has been well-understood that you will have multiple careers throughout your working life and must reinvent yourself every five to ten years. Yet, the career service needs to respond to this need.
If you are an older worker, you receive significantly fewer opportunities for training and development in the workplace. As a result, you miss out on the economic benefits of work style change and growth,
while employers miss out on the benefits of retaining their most loyal employees. However, evidence from other countries shows that this does not have to be inevitable.
Midlife MOTs should be expanded to more employers and provided to those out of work, offering more people access to a comprehensive check-in to plan their future finances, work, and health. This would ensure their employment ambitions are supported well into their 50s, 60s, and beyond.
When working with senior professionals, I often observe that opportunities for training and development decrease for you as you move higher up the organisation and as you age. Surveys and research confirm this. This pattern needs to be addressed to support lifelong learning and career growth.
Empower Carers
The fifth pillar is empowering carers. Although the new government proposes a right to request flexible working from day one of any new employment, more could be done. If you consider the approach to maternity leave, there is a statutory right to a combination of paid and unpaid leave. A similar model should be considered for carers. Many individuals over 50 are part of a ‘sandwich’ generation where you have caring responsibilities for older parents and children from a second relationship or grandchildren whose parents both need to earn. This will substantially impact the economy as if you provide care as a relative, it is usually of higher quality and will reduce taxpayer costs. Ironically, current measures of GDP fail to recognise the value of voluntary care as a contribution to national income, whereas paid carers are seen as a part of GDP.
Although current thinking is that carers’ rights would apply irrespective of age or the person receiving care, with the weak commitment to challenging ageism by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, the risk is that older people will be subject to a new wave of age-based discrimination. Maternity rights are the source of many gender-based discrimination claims, and employers know that they can’t ask women about their parenting plans. However, any request for flexible working is likely to involve a conversation about caring responsibilities, which opens the door to age-based discrimination.
Review of DWP’s Employment and Benefits Approach
The sixth pillar is reviewing and reforming employment and benefits for older people. Nearly a quarter of those aged 60-65 live in poverty (1.4 million), the highest poverty rate of any age group. While some will be unable to return to work, there are growing numbers over State Pension Age who must work out of financial necessity and have no access to employment support.
Traditional ‘cliff-edge’ retirement (full-time to no-time work) is increasingly being replaced by a more complex and diverse set of transitions. Recently, many ‘retirees’ have had to return to work after retirement. However, government policy and implementation fail to recognise this fundamental shift. Too many older people have no support to find work that reflects their rich skills, knowledge and experience and are forced into unskilled, physically demanding roles. It is ironic to observe in hospitality that while many customers are retirees who can afford mid-week trips to restaurants, pubs and mini breaks, alongside this, they are increasingly served, front of house, by other retirees forced back into physically demanding roles waiting, cleaning or working in the bar. Before the State Pension Age rises again, a holistic review of the DWP’s approach to addressing poverty should be conducted by looking at financial and employment support. One example of current failing is that as a carer receiving carer’s benefits, you can lose all your entitlement if you exceed the earning limit by a single penny. There is no taper.
Conclusions
The election of a Labour Government should herald an opportunity to rethink and address the needs of older people. However, with an election campaign constantly championing the needs of ‘working families’, it will be interesting to see how much commitment there is to engaging and supporting older people who typically no longer live in a family household. Despite the waste of human potential, it will only be through a concerted campaign by individuals, businesses, charities and other stakeholders that there is any hope that these six pillars will be pursued.
Unless you die first, you will become an older person: how will you protect your future?
Charles McLachlan is the founder of FuturePerfect and on a mission to transform the future of work and business. The Portfolio Executive programme is a new initiative to help executives build a sustainable and impactful second-half-career. Creating an alternative future takes imagination, design, organisation and many other thinking skills. Charles is happy to lend them to you.