New Inquiry announced: Older people in the workplace and in the job market: is Government policy effective?

The Women and Equalities Committee today launches a new inquiry into older people and employment, looking at current Government policies to help people extend their working lives, and considering further steps which could be taken to tackle issues including age discrimination.

In 2010 one in four of the working age population was aged 50 or over, and this is projected to increase to one in three by 2022. The average age of leaving the labour market is lower than in 1950, while life expectancy has increased: a quarter of men and a third of women reaching state pension age have not worked for five years or more. Almost one million people in the same age range who are not in employment state that they are willing or would like to work.

The Government’s Fuller Working Lives strategy takes forward Baroness Ros Altmann’s review A New Vision for Older Workers(March 2015) and its recommendations for Government, business and individuals to ‘recruit, retain and retrain’ older workers. Further details about the review are in the note below.

The Spring Budget 2017 (para 4.12) contained announcements of two initiatives “recognising that individuals should have the opportunity to retrain and upskill at all points in their life”: up to £40 million to be spent by 2018-19 on ‘lifelong learning pilots’ testing different approaches to retraining and upskilling throughout working lives; and £5 million for identifying how best to increase the number of ‘returnships’ offering routes back to employment for people who have taken lengthy career breaks. 

Committee Chair Maria Miller said:

“The problems facing older people at work rarely make the headlines yet last year nearly 10 million people over 50 were in work. We know that many others in this age group who would like to be working are not in employment. Helping people over 50 to tackle age discrimination is good for the economy, for employers, and for individual employees. The Government recognises the problems facing over 50s but will its strategy and plans make any difference? Our inquiry will consider progress so far; the things that stop change; what works; and what more needs to be done.”  

The inquiry will focus on the questions below, and the Committee welcomes evidence from individuals as well as organisations. Full terms of reference for the inquiry are here. 

1.      Is the Fuller Working Lives strategy a comprehensive response to the issues identified in the Altmann Review? 

2.     What progress has been made to date by the Government’s employer-led approach, and what are its strengths and limitations?

3.      What further steps should the Government consider in order to reduce barriers to later-life working?

4.      What further steps need to be taken to reduce age discrimination in recruitment, and what evidence is there that an employer-led approach will be effective?

5.      How successful are Government policies on re-training and re-entry likely to be in helping people stay in work or find new employment? Have relevant recommendations on reforming Jobcentre Plus and welfare-to-work services been implemented? Is there a place for employer incentives?

6.     How should Government and employers respond to and improve age diversity in the workforce? How could the Independent Review of Employment Practices in the Modern Economy most effectively contribute to improving the prospects of older workers?

7.     Is the Government’s approach addressing the different needs of women, carers, people with long-term health conditions and disabilities and BME groups among the older workforce?  

The deadline for written evidence submissions is Tuesday 9^th May.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Age discrimination in employment was first prohibited in 2006, through the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations; these were replaced by the Equality Act 2010. 

The default retirement age was abolished in October 2011. However, compulsory retirement ages set by an employer can still be “objectively justified” in respect of particular roles (e.g. police, air traffic controllers). 

An Employment Appeal Tribunal found in 2014 in the case of Seldon v Clarkson Wright and Jakes that a mandatory retirement age of 65 for partners in a law firm was a "proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aims" of workforce planning and staff retention.

In 2011, Miriam O’Reilly won a case for age discrimination against the BBC after she was one of four female presenters, all in their 40s or 50s, who had been dropped from the Countryfile programme. An employment tribunal upheld a claim for age discrimination (but not for sex discrimination), finding that “the wish to appeal to a prime-time audience, including younger viewers, is a legitimate aim. However, we do not accept that it has been established that choosing younger presenters is required to appeal to such an audience.”

The Women and Equalities Committee’s report on the Gender Pay Gap, published in March 2016, was informed by an awareness that the pay gap is most marked for women over 40. 
 

Fuller Working Lives 
Action to be taken by the Government in support of Fuller Working Lives includes:  

• ·        Empowering change through others - developing an evidence-based case for action. This includes research, analysis and communications and appointment of the Business in the Community Age at Work leadership team, led by Andy Briggs, CEO of Aviva Life, as Business Champion for Older Workers (i.e. Baroness Altmann’s successor in this role).
   
• ·        Supporting those who need more help. Focusing on women, carers, people with long-term health conditions and disabilities and BME groups, including through the forthcoming Carers' Strategy and the work, health and disability Green Paper, 'Improving Lives'.
    
• ·       Reforming the Adult Skills system. The Industrial Strategy Green Paper (Jan 2017) set out reforms for technical education and "new, better options for those already in the workforce", a promise to “test ambitious new approaches to encourage lifelong learning", and expansion of apprenticeship places, which "are available to people of all ages". 

• ·        Improving the Jobcentre Plus offer for older workers. Introduction of 'Older Claimant Champions' "to increase awareness of the barriers faced by older claimants and how to address them". Also "improving the information available to older workers" on gov.uk. 

The document includes recommendations made by employers to other employers under the headings of ‘retain’, ‘retrain’ and ‘recruit’, with case studies. Examples include managing health conditions in the workforce, supporting carers, promoting financial awareness and engaging with LEPs. 

The Altmann Review

The Altmann Review stated that:

“Outdated stereotypes, unconscious bias and age discrimination all contribute to preventing older people from staying in or returning to work. And all these mean that age is one of the major hurdles that hinders successful job search. 

Other hurdles include low skills, lack of confidence, inadequate up to date qualifications, long-term health conditions, disabilities and the difficulty of combining work with caring. Many over 50s are affected by some or all of these factors, with older women facing particular barriers. 

Social norms that dictate the ‘expected’ age of retirement can be slow to change, but there is evidence that this is already underway. 

There are numerous solutions to overcome the barriers to fuller working lives. These can be split conceptually into the three ‘R’s: Retain, Retrain and Recruit older workers.”

The report went on to make a number of recommendations to Government, businesses and individuals, including:

• ·        The Government should explain the case for longer working lives to employers and the public;
• ·        A cross-Government national strategy should be developed to address adult skills gaps and ongoing retraining requirements (including, for example, subsidising apprenticeships for older workers);
• ·        Jobcentre services should be improved for older workers;
• ·        Businesses should make sure all line managers are trained in managing older workers and consider mechanisms such as gap breaks and alumni programmes and offering new roles for those in physically demanding jobs;
• ·        Businesses should monitor age as a diversity characteristic, and ensure support for women who are going through the menopause.

The report also suggested that “old age needs a media rebrand”.  

State Pension Age

John Cridland is carrying out the first independent review to inform the Government's review of the State Pension age, as provided for in the Pensions Act 2014. The review will take account of changing demographics and increases in longevity, and is due to be completed by May 2017,

Modern Employment Practices Review

In October 2016, the Prime Minister announced an Independent Review of Employment Practices in the Modern Economy, led by Matthew Taylor. It includes an examination of how modern employment can be harnessed to create opportunities for groups currently underrepresented in the labour market including “the elderly”.