One in ten people aged between 50 and state pension age don’t work but want to

A decade ago, the International Longevity Centre (ILC), the UK’s leading authority on demographic change, reported on the “missing million” – people over 50 pushed out of their previous job because of ‘shocks’, a combination of redundancy, ill health or early retirement. Today, over a million are still missing from the workforce.

In 2023, nearly one in ten people (9.54%) over 50 but not yet at pensionable age left work involuntarily. Rates of involuntary exit from work start rising around age 40 and are highest among people in their late 50s and early 60s.

In the “Good job?” briefing published today, the second in the series of briefings being released as part of work to develop a new “Longevity White Paper”, the ILC highlights that the failure to act to support longer working lives means that millions of over 50s are being forced from their jobs due to circumstances beyond their control.

Demographic change will drive a 2.6 million shortfall of paid workers by 2030 and almost every sector of our economy is facing skills shortages. A decreasing proportion of us are aged between 18 and the State Pension Age (SPA) and an increasing number of us are over 66. So, despite not having a mandatory retirement age in the UK, we still see a dramatic work exodus at SPA.

Previous ILC research has also shown:

• Two in five adults are economically inactive – 2.5 million of these due to long-term sickness, and their numbers have risen alarmingly (by almost half a million since 2019). There are now only 1.7 economically active workers for each inactive adult aged 16+.
• 7.2% of people are underemployed – they’d like to work more than they do. People in the UK work, on average, for, just 31.5 years of their lives.
• Migration isn’t the silver bullet solution either. For instance, even with higher migration, the social care sector could face a shortfall of one million workers by 2037.

David Sinclair, Chief Executive at the International Longevity Centre UK said:

“Work is a good thing. Meaningful activity, whether paid or voluntary, keeps us connected and gives us purpose. However, too much of what we do for work doesn’t add value to us as individuals or to society. And work without purpose is basically pointless.

“We need to make work more attractive and accessible to more people. And we need more than headline-grabbing, sticking plaster solutions to address poor mental and physical health and get people back to work. Patterns of work are changing and so are our attitudes to what’s most important for our working lives. Technology has already made a massive difference to the world of work and will continue to do so. The question is whether we can harness these changes to our benefit”.

“When we highlighted the “missing million” in our 2014 report we called for action. But our latest analysis shows that while millions of over 50s would like to work they are still not receiving the help they need to get back into the workplace.”

Aviva is supporting the ILC’s research into longevity, Doug Brown, CEO of Aviva UK & Ireland Life said: “These findings highlight the structural issues of hiring and retaining over 50s workers. While the government announced a £70 million investment to support over 50s staying in or getting back to work in its 2023 Spring Budget, employers have a big role to play in improving outcomes for this age group.

“The good news is that there is momentum and support from UK employers. Our Working Lives research³ found that in the last year, one in ten (10%) employers have for the first time introduced support for retaining over 50s employees. Furthermore, three-quarters (76%) of employers think that it is important to retain employees aged over 50, with a third (32%) saying it is very important.

“Over 50s workers can be a great asset to an organisation, bringing experience and skills honed over decades. It is important that employers are flexible and attentive to their specific needs. Retention rates can be improved through apprenticeship programmes, which offer an opportunity to re-skill, and ‘mid-life MOTs’, which are a free check-up of your wealth, work and wellbeing. Other options such as job-sharing or ‘part-tirement’ may be useful in attracting and retaining the missing million.”

Ends

Media contacts

ILC – Press@ilcuk.org.uk or +44 (0) 7736 124 096. Spokespeople are available on request.

Aviva – fiona.whytock@aviva.com or +44 (0) 7800 692299.

Notes

Notes

Missing million

In 2014, the ILC working with The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise (PRIME) and Business In The Community, published The missing million: illuminating the employment challenges of the over 50s. At that time of the 3.3 million economically inactive people aged 50-64, approximately 1 million people had been made ‘involuntarily workless’ – pushed out of their previous job as a result of ‘shocks’, a combination of redundancy, ill health or early retirement.

In 2023, the proportion of all people aged between 50 and the SPA who left work involuntarily was 9.54% (as a proportion of all people aged between 50 and the SPA). If we look at this as a proportion of all people in that age group who left their job, the proportion rises to 47.57%. So nearly half of all people aged between 50 and the SPA who left their job did so involuntarily.

It’s not possible to calculate the exact number of people leaving work involuntarily in the 50 to SPA group for 2023 because the ONS population data is currently only available in 5-year age bands.

The 50-69 age band is the main one used in the ILC’s The missing million report.

While the numbers have increased, this is being driven by increases in the number of older people.

Working Lives research

Aviva’s Working Lives Report 2023: Fit for Future published in June 2023 found one in ten (10%) employers surveyed have in the last year introduced support for retaining employees aged over 50 years old.

https://www.aviva.com/newsroom/news-releases/2023/06/one-in-ten-employers-introduce-support-for-retaining-over-50s/

Longevity white paper

The ILC, the UK’s leading authority on demographic change, has embarked on a programme of work to develop a new Longevity White Paper, identifying the changes we need to make to grasp the opportunities of population ageing, and longer lives. The development of our Longevity White Paper, which is supported by Aviva, will identify new evidence-based solutions for an ageing society.

This is the first in a series of thematic briefing papers setting out the issues of concern, sharing compelling new statistics, and inviting solutions.

You can send any comments or ideas for solutions to info@ilcuk.org.uk

Sources

Office for National Statistics. (2023). Labour Force Survey. [data series]. 9th Release. UK Data Service. SN: 2000026, DOI: http://doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-Series-2000026

https://ilcuk.org.uk/brexit-and-the-future-of-the-migrant-social-care-workforce/

Across the G7 the UK leads the way in long working lives: But the wealthy world faces a long-term workforce crisis due to demographic change – ILCUK

https://www.health.org.uk/evidence-hub/work/employment-and-underemployment/trends-in-unemployment-and-underemployment

EMP16: Underemployment and overemployment – Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/back-to-work-budget-supporting-people-to-return-to-the-labour-market

https://www.aviva.com/newsroom/news-releases/2023/06/one-in-ten-employers-introduce-support-for-retaining-over-50s/

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