An article examined the withdrawal from the labour market of older workers in England and Wales between 1991 and 1995, and in England between 2002-03 and 2006-07. It looked at the relationship between withdrawal from the labour market and demographic and socio-economic characteristics of older workers, their labour market status, health status, housing, household circumstances, and caring commitments at the start of each period being considered.
Source: Ercilia Dini, 'Older workers' withdrawal from the labour market 1991 to 2007: impact of socio-demographic characteristics, health and household circumstances', Population Trends 142, Winter 2010, Office for National Statistics
Links: Link removed by ONS without explanation
Date: 2010-Dec
An article examined whether older workers did less well than their younger counterparts in terms of the skills content of the jobs they held, the quality of their working lives, their commitment to their existing employer and to employment in general, and their attitudes towards and experiences of training.
Source: Alan Felstead, 'Closing the age gap? Age, skills and the experience of work in Great Britain', Ageing and Society, Volume 30 Issue 8
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Nov
An article examined some of the key contemporary concerns and debates surrounding the employability of older workers (aged 50 years and over). It questioned the extent to which the hold on early retirement was weakening; investigated employers' practices and attitudes towards older workers; examined trends in age discrimination; and took into account the often neglected voice in these debates – that of the older workers themselves.
Source: Wendy Loretto, 'Work and retirement in an ageing world: the case of older workers in the UK', Twenty-First Century Society: Journal of the Academy of Social Sciences, Volume 5 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Nov
A report said that most employers were poorly prepared to cope with an ageing workforce.
Source: Alison Macleod, Dianah Worman, Petra Wilton, Patrick Woodman and Paul Hutchings, Managing an Ageing Workforce: How employers are adapting to an older labour market, Chartered Institute of Management /Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Links: Report | CMI press release | CIPD press release | Guardian report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2010-Sep
A paper said that more research was needed on the views of employers and trade unions about extending the working age if informed policy decisions were to be made. Any pension reform that targeted greater flexibility around employment needed to communicate clearly with employers and trade unions what they needed to do, and how and when they could do it.
Source: Susan Sayce, Living Longer is a Good Thing! Ageing, employers and employment rights, International Longevity Centre – UK
Links: Paper | University of East Anglia press release
Date: 2010-Jul
The government began consultation on proposals to phase out the default retirement age (of 65) from April 2011.
Source: Phasing out the Default Retirement Age: Consultation document, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills/Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Consultation document | DBIS press release | CBI press release | CIPD press release | EFA press release | EHRC press release | ILC-UK press release | REC press release | TUC press release | Personnel Today report | BBC report
Date: 2010-Jul
The new coalition government published a series of research reports designed to inform the review of the default retirement age.
Source: Andrew Thomas and Juliet Pascall-Calitz, Default Retirement Age: Employer Qualitative Research, Research Report 672, Department for Work and Pensions | Gareth Morrell and Rosalind Tennant, Pathways to Retirement: The Influence of Employer Policy and Practice on Retirement Decisions, Research Report 673, Department for Work and Pensions | Andrew Wood, Marisa Robertson and Dominika Wintersgill, A Comparative Review of International Approaches to Mandatory Retirement, Research Report 674, Department for Work and Pensions | Wendy Sykes, Nick Coleman and Carola Groom, Review of the Default Retirement Age: Summary of the Stakeholder Evidence, Research Report 675, Department for Work and Pensions | Hilary Metcalf and Pamela Meadows, Second Survey of Employers Policies, Practices and Preferences Relating to Age, 2010, Research Report 682, Department for Work and Pensions Links: Report (672) | Summary (672) | Report (673) | Summary (673) | Report (674) | Summary (674) | Report (675) | Summary (675) | Report (682) | DWP press release
Date: 2010-Jul
A study found that almost 90 per cent of people in their early 50s were considering working beyond the state pension age in order to have a higher standard of living.
Source: Matthew Brown, Attitudes Towards Pensions and Retirement at Age 50: Initial findings from the National Child Development Study, Working Paper 2010/2, Centre for Longitudinal Studies/University of London
Links: Paper | IOE press release
Date: 2010-Jun
A report examined why people retired when they did and how this might change in the future. The government needed to give more attention to: preventative healthcare throughout the life-course; job quality for older workers; the potential of 'gradual retirement'; simplifying the pensions system and improving the provision of advice; and the support offered to older people with caring responsibilities.
Source: Craig Berry, The Future of Retirement, International Longevity Centre – UK
Links: Report | ILC press release
Date: 2010-Jun
A report said that demographic changes meant that workers in the future would generally be sicker and older. Greater efforts were needed to improve the effectiveness of workplace health provision and support.
Source: Helen Vaughan-Jones and Leela Barham, Healthy Work: Evidence into action, British United Provident Association
Links: Report | Work Foundation blog | Personnel Today report
Date: 2010-Jun
An article examined how employers were adapting to the law requiring them to consider the 'business case' for an employee's requests to continue in work after the default retirement age (65). Opportunities for workers aged 65 or more years to stay employed were more the result of individual arrangements with their immediate managers than changes in an organization's policies and practices.
Source: Matthew Flynn, 'The United Kingdom government's "business case" approach to the regulation of retirement', Age and Ageing, Volume 30 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Apr
A survey examined workers' awareness of their rights, together with problems experienced in the workplace and how such problems were resolved – focusing on those aged over 60.
Source: Craig Barratt, The Fair Treatment at Work Age Report: Findings from the 2008 survey, Employment Relations Research Series 109, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Mar
A survey found that the majority of people (80 per cent) believed that it was wrong to make someone retire just because they had reached a certain age, up from two-thirds (68 per cent) in 2001.
Source: Stephen McKay, 'Never too old: attitudes towards longer working lives', in British Social Attitudes: The 26th Report, SAGE Publications
Links: Summary | NatCen press release
Date: 2010-Jan
A report by an all-party group of MPs said that the government should legislate to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees, and that there should be a move towards a more gender-neutral system of parental leave. It also recommended that the government should provide stronger support for older workers, and abolish the statutory default retirement age.
Source: Achieving Intergenerational Fairness in Employment Policies and Practice, Intergenerational Futures All Party Parliamentary Group
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jan
A report presented findings from a literature review designed to provide greater insight into how the government's 'back to work' provisions supported the return to work of people aged over 50.
Source: Sandra Vegeris, Deborah Smeaton and Melahat Sahin-Dikmen, 50+ Back to Work Evidence Review and Indicative Guide for Secondary Data Analysis, Research Report 615, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Report | Summary | DWP press release
Date: 2010-Jan
The equality and human rights watchdog published proposals for 'fundamental changes' to employment policies, designed to open up more work opportunities for older people and address the challenges of an ageing workforce. The proposals included abolishing the default retirement age, the extension of the right to request flexible working to all, overhauling employer recruitment practices to prevent discrimination, and improved training and development. A linked research report examined the needs and preferences of older people in relation to paid work, obstacles to the achievement of those preferences, and the means by which those obstacles might be overcome.
Source: Alison Maitland, Working Better: The Over 50s, the New Work Generation, Equality and Human Rights Commission | Deborah Smeaton, Sandra Vegeris and Melahat Sahin-Dikmen, Older Workers: Employment Preferences, Barriers and Solutions, Research Report 43, Equality and Human Rights Commission |
Links: Report | EHRC press release | Research report | NIACE press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | Guardian report | People Management report
Date: 2010-Jan
