According to a study by the Centre for Ageing Better, a charity, and the Learning and Work Institute, a research centre, a quarter of a million over-50s could fall permanently out of work after being made redundant during the coronavirus pandemic. The research asserts that, because job schemes and recruitment are skewed in favour of younger workers, older staff were far less likely to return to work after a redundancy. Anna Dixon, of the Centre for Ageing Better, said: “Without action, we could see many in their 50s and 60s falling out of the workforce years before their state pension age.”
Meanwhile, analysis of ONS data by jobs site Rest Less suggests women will be hardest hit, with nearly 40,000 women aged between 50 and 64 dropping out of the workforce since the pandemic began, with their age group the only one not to witness an increase in economic activity. Stuart Lewis, of Rest Less, said: “In t he last recession, women could retire at 60. Today, it is 66. Losing their job will force them into an early retirement many cannot afford.”
Read more: The Daily Telegraph