Thoughts from the British Society of Gerontology Conference July 2018

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...

Career breaks and the 50+ generation

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...