Older workers with long-term health conditions are more likely to be out of work than their younger peers, according to the Centre for Ageing Better.
More than half (53%) of those economically inactive due to a long-term illness or disability are aged between 50 and 65, its analysis found.
Older workers are substantially more likely to be among the economically inactive in the UK than they are in Germany, France or Italy; the UK has a 50% higher rate of economic inactivity compared to Germany.
In the UK, 42% of people with long-standing conditions who are not in work but would like to be are over 50.
Its research also found that people over 50 comprise more than 40% of those who still work with a long-standing health condition.
Older workers
The new health and work review by the Centre reveals that there is a substantial health-related employment gap that widens with age.
If the government could commit to an employment rate target of 75% of people between 50 and 64 by 2030, this would see around 192,000 more older workers in the labour market, it argued.
This would in turn generate £2.5 billion in additional tax and national insurance revenue for the Treasury, the Centre said.
In order to address this gap, the organisation would also like the government to set ambitious performance targets for older workers in terms of the support the Department for Work and Pensions can offer.
It has also called for the Midlife MOT programme, launched in 2019, to be expanded.
Jobcentre Plus should improve its 50 PLUS Champions scheme, and there should be specialist interventions to support older workers with health conditions to return to the workforce, it added.
Dr Emily Andrews, deputy director for work at the Centre, said: “In the decades prior to the pandemic, the UK’s employment growth was largely driven by increasing the participation of workers aged 50 and over.
“This trend has now stalled and for Labour to meet its growth mission and ambitions of an 80% employment rate, their health and work initiatives will need to work for people in their fifties and sixties.
“This will complement the drive to increase youth participation in the labour market, and together create a strong multigenerational workforce.”
She said the government needed to adopt an “age-positive tone” in its communications and actions for this to succeed.
“It is clear that it is not 50+ workers’ health that is holding this age group back from fulfilling their full potential, it is the failure of employment support and a significant proportion of employers in not giving them the opportunities to contribute fully to organisations and the economy,” she added.
Centre for Ageing Better CEO Dr Carole Easton said: “One thing is clear: with the state pension age set to rise again to 67 by the end of this parliament, we cannot continue to accept that poor labour market outcomes for people in their sixties with long-term health conditions are inevitable.”
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