Meet the paradox This month the state retirement age for men and women was unified at 65. It will move to 68 by 2039. The ‘ageing’ of the state retirement age clearly indicates the expectation by the state that people will work for longer. Given the recent increases in longevity, this would appear a reasonable expectation. However, the rate of population ageing is slowing. And many people are uncertain if they could work through to state retirement age in their current occupations – the fear of ‘working until you drop’. But the even bigger problem is that employers haven’t caught...
Disappearing at 50 When I was Manager of the Commission on Older Women, organised and chaired by Labour’s Harriet Harman, one of the key messages that came home to us was that people in their 50s, in this case women, disappear. We held many listening events to hear the voices of older women. They told us again and again that they were not seen in the media, their voices were not heard, and their opinions not sought. Once you had reached 50, especially as a woman, you were no longer of importance in, or to, society. Seeing and hearing the...
Ageing in an Unequal World I was fortunate to be able to attend the annual conference of the British Society of Gerontology this month, one of 650 delegates from 30 countries, including many, as me, attending for the first time. This was a huge conference with plenaries, symposiums, papers and posters presented across 10 parallel thematic and contemporary concerns around the topic of ageing in an unequal world. From the various discussions and presentations, I have identified the following themes which appear of particular interest in relation to the issues and policy challenges for the 50 to retirement generation. Inequalities...
Are you over 50 but not yet retired, still involved in the world of work? You might be one of over 10 million over 50s currently in a job. Or you might be one of the 3 million over 50s outside the workforce but don’t think you are retired, perhaps actively wanting to return to work. Do you think your opinions and thoughts about what is important are getting through to the people that matter? New Middle Age thinks the answer is no and that needs to change. We need to find a voice. So here is New Middle Age...
New data shows an increase in over 50s employment. But some changes merely reflect movement between categories, and there are other indications that the story may not be what we think. So what are over 50s employment trends today – more at work or just working longer? New data release The new March 2018 ONS UK labour market data release tells an interesting story about over 50 employment. The report showed that employment for the over 50s has reached an all-time high of 10.1 million, the result of an established trend of rising employment and decreasing unemployment and economic inactivity...
The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee inquiry into older people and employment took its first oral evidence yesterday. This is a welcome inquiry which will seek to examine the effectiveness of current Government policies to help people extend their working lives, and consider further steps which could be taken to tackle issues including age discrimination. In an excellent opening session, evidence was presented around the core issues of why more over 50s are not in work, the barriers they face and what more could be done to increase employment for this group. The session can be viewed in...
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...
‘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...
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...
