Work
Our country wastes a huge amount of talent, skills and experience by denying older workers the chance to stay in jobs or find new ones.
Work and retirement are changing. Today, 1 in 3 UK workers is over 50. But people’s careers, health, and finances no longer follow a simple path from work to retirement. Most people leave work well before state pension age, while others continue working well beyond it. Yet policy still rests on a clean break at state pension age.
At the same time, too many older workers are prevented from staying in work for as long as they want or need to. Ageist attitudes, limited flexible opportunities, and employment support that doesn’t fit health, caring, or other responsibilities leave too many locked out of the labour market.
We cannot continue to accept this, especially as the state pension age rises. For individuals, it means missing out on financial security and the proven benefits of good work. For employers, it means losing the advantages of multigenerational teams and restricting access to the widest talent pool. And nationally, closing the employment gap between workers aged 50+ and the rest of the workforce could add billions to the economy and the Treasury every year.
There is a real opportunity to do things differently.
Age-friendly Work
Age-friendly Employer Pledge
Sign up to the Age-friendly Employer Pledge and show you recognise the value of older workers
Supporting Disabled Older Workers
We're exploring the working lives of Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in their 50s and 60s.
Employment and skills support
Making employment and skills support work for over 50s.
Tackling ageism in recruitment
We want to eliminate bias in recruitment processes so that more people aged 50 and over can remain in work and employers can benefit from their skills and experience.
