Winter is coming and my twitter feed is full of stories about the problems, and the burden, of older age. Positive stories of the over 50s, never high in the headlines, have shrunk further from view. This is a dangerous and disempowering narrative. Yes, winter is coming – beware the over 50 victim narrative! Most people have health issues in the winter months, be it man flu or seasonal affective disorder. The over 50s do not become instantly, and uniquely, burdensome victims with the changing of the clocks. The seasonal shift It is perhaps understandable that fears of the impact...
The New Middle Age blog took a break over the summer – time out to help my 16 year old twins transition into 6th Form – and evidence of the ‘long tail’ on the childcare/work conundrum! As I work for myself, with no employer/funder/client issues as yet, this was relatively straight-forward. Short hours on social media and website maintenance sufficed. But it has made me think again about the issues around career breaks and the 50+ generation. The 21st Century Career Break Evidence is building that career breaks, and flexible working more generally, are increasingly important for all employees. A...
‘Do Not Go Gentle’ This week’s British Society of Gerontology Conference at Swansea was entitled ‘Do Not Go Gentle’, a sentiment absolutely encapsulated by the WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) women who also this week took such exception, quite righty, to the advice of Pensions Minister, Guy Opperman MP that women who had been caught out by changes to SPA should start an apprenticeship (report here). For WASPI, the complaint is that they have not been given equal time to men to make adjustments to compensate for the pension reforms – which they support. They recognise that reform is...
This wasn’t the blog I was expecting to write, being in the middle of new research on economic productivity of older workers (see here). And I rather expect to be following the proverbial lemming over the cliff given the controversial position of the issues involved. But here goes: Children – the best and worst thing I ever did. Why this topic now? I took a 15 minute break this morning and caught the broadcast of a Helen Simpson short story, ‘Café Society’ (see here); a biting commentary on the impact of motherhood on the careers of women. And it brought...
The statistics show that many in the 50-retirement generation find it difficult to find work and progress their careers. But in fact older workers are productive and effective – they have unique abilities and strengths which make them a real asset in the workplace. And there is strong evidence to support employing older workers too. In this blog, New Middle Age takes a look at the Unique Selling Points of older workers. Our 50s may be our most productive decade at work It may be a surprise, but there is good evidence that economic productivity at work peaks in our 50s....
New Middle Age has identified key issues for the 50 to retirement generation and looks to public policy makers to deliver policies to support lasting and sustainable change. We need policies to address key emerging trends: increasing longevity and better health; age related inequalities; and the complex area of over 50 employment, productivity and training. It’s time for public policy action on the issues of New Middle Age. New Middle Age challenges public policy makers to deliver for the 50 to retirement generation. New Middle Age calls for the recognition of a new generation – from 50 to retirement, whenever that may...
Yesterday, Angela was pleased to be able to attend the ILC-UK/renEWL/Uncertain Futures conference ‘Overcoming Inequalities: Addressing barriers to extending working lives’. The day included presentations from a large and impressive line-up of speakers, from the research project team, employer and third sector representatives and including a personal review of his last year’s work by John Cridland. Here she picks out some of the key issues. Structural inequalities Health and socio-economic inequalities, as well as ethnic and family structures, underpin many of the inequalities observed in achieving extended working lives. And the foundations for these inequalities are likely to have been...
The publication this month of the Government Digital Strategy (1) and this week’s House of Lords Communications Committee report, ‘Growing Up with the Internet’ (2), has placed digital literacy high on the agenda again. This is a vital life skill, essential for living and holding down a modern job. Given the rapid expansion of technology, and IT skills education in schools, it cannot be a surprise that there is an age profile in digital literacy. But when examined in detail, this data, and other evidence about the IT capabilities of the over 50s, suggest that the picture is much more...
This was a low-key, pre-Brexit Budget, focused primarily on supporting families and improving the outlook for our young people. But there were also some interesting features for the 50 to retirement generation – both good and bad. New Middle Age takes a look. The main rate of Class 4 NICs for the self-employed will increase by 1% to 10%, with a further 1% increase in April 2019. This change will increase national insurance costs for self-employed people with profits of more than £16,250, and will raise an average of 60p per week per self-employed person. This measure risks discouraging people from...
Government estimates indicate that one in four of us currently in our 50s can realistically expect to live to 100. With this in mind it is essential that we stop seeing 50 as old or older. It makes no more sense to think about 50 or 60 year olds together with people of 80, 90 or above than doing so with young people thirty or forty years their junior. 50 is in reality the start of the lifetime second half. A new identity and a new image is called for. Meet New Middle Age, the generation from 50 to retirement – whenever that might be given the abolition of a...
