Member News
By Baroness Greengross - 22nd February 2010
Baroness Greengross writes for ePolitix.com ahead of her question on the extension of the job guarantees available to young unemployed people to those aged over 50.
Although I believe the government has rightly concentrated its efforts on the young, we are approaching the tipping point of claimants entering long-term unemployment, and should ensure that the economy doesn't lose out on the skills and experience of an older generation. That is why I am calling on government to extend the job guarantee, currently available for unemployed 18-24 year-olds who have been in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for nine months, to claimants aged 50+.
For many older workers a premature exit from the job market will effectively force them into early retirement, as employers are reluctant to take them on for what they see as a short period before retirement, but can easily be for five or ten years – longer than many younger employees will remain in one job.
A recent CIPD report, Our Employee Outlook, Autumn 2009, showed that nearly three-quarters of over-55s need to work past the state pension age as the recession hits their pension. There is a worry that older people, although more likely to keep their jobs in the downturn, are finding it harder to get jobs if they do end up unemployed, and thus may drift into long-term joblessness.
Unfortunately this concern has now been vindicated by recent ONS statistics which show that the number of over-50s who have been unemployed for six to twelve months increased by 136 per cent in the year to October 2009, around double the rate of increase for young people. Furthermore, one in three unemployed over-50s have been unemployed for more than 12 months, which is the highest percentage of all of the age groups and higher than the overall average (25 per cent).
Six months is clearly a tipping point when people need to move back into the labour market or risk remaining unemployed for 12 months or more, and the government’s move to reduce the qualifying period for the job guarantee from 12 months to 6 months shows that this is a critical juncture for unemployed people.
If the 100,000 older workers who have been unemployed for 6-12 months are not helped back into work in the coming months, they will be more likely to remain on benefits until retirement. With large numbers of older workers in this unemployment bracket, I am very concerned that long-term unemployment will condemn many people to an uncomfortable retirement and force them to rely on state benefits – an additional burden on the wider economy as well as a blow to their self-esteem and sense of worth.
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