‘Ageist’ employers dump ill over-50s on the scrapheap

Over-50s with long-term health conditions are being left on the scrapheap thanks to ‘ageist assumptions’ by employers, according to a new study.

The Centre for Ageing Better (CAB) found that those aged 50-64 were 60 per cent more likely to be out of work than those in the 35-49 bracket suffering similar conditions. 

That means millions of older workers face ‘years of financial uncertainty’ before they reach retirement, it concluded.

It was the latest study to highlight Britain’s need to bring more over-50s back to the workforce and reverse the surge in those who are ‘economically inactive’ – neither in employment nor looking for a job.

These number 9.3m among all those of working age, including 3.6m aged 50-64. The report found that Britain has much higher inactivity rates due to illness among over-50s than ­Germany, France and Italy.

Closing that gap could add 192,000 workers to the labour market and £13billion a year to the economy, the study said. The report blamed ‘widely-held ageist assumptions underestimating the value of older workers’ as well as lack of support.

Emily Andrews, deputy director for work at the CAB, said: ‘Prior to the pandemic, employment growth was largely driven by increasing the participation of workers aged 50 and over.

‘This trend has stalled and, for Labour to meet its ambitions of an 80 per cent employment rate, their health and work initiatives will need to work for people in their 50s and 60s.’ 

Andrews called for an ‘age-positive tone’ from the government and the report wants it to set targets including 75 per cent employment for those aged 50-64 by 2030.

‘It is not health that is holding this age group back, it is the failure of employment support, and [many] employers in not giving them the opportunities to contribute fully,’ Andrews said.

The report said it was a ‘myth’ that older workers with long-term health conditions would inevitably be forced out of work.

Of 10.75m in work with such a condition, more than 40 per cent are aged over 50, it found. CAB chief executive Carole Easton said: ‘Older workers with long-term health conditions already make a sizeable contribution. But this could be so much more.’

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