Older long-term unemployed people are at risk of never working again unless tailored support is offered to help them back into work, a TUC report has warned.
The report draws on findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), which shows that unemployed people over 50 are 10 times as likely to still be out of work after two years than back in work.
The briefing also warned that a period of long-term unemployment for an older person massively increases their chances of never working again. This is particularly the case for men, with every year of unemployment making it 24.3% less likely that they will find work again. Almost half of all unemployed people over 50 have been out of work for more than a year.
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The report calls for the government’s job guarantee, delivered by the Future Jobs Fund and which is currently on offer to some young people, to be better funded and extended so that older people can benefit from the scheme too.
The fund enables employers to receive subsidies for taking on an unemployed person for at least six months.
