'Too many people in their 50s and 60s are shut out of opportunity' North South divide for older workers
“There can be no sustainable growth in every postcode while too many people in their 50s and 60s are shut out of opportunity.”
A North-South divide has been revealed in the number of older people out of work, according to new research.
People in the North are almost 50% more likely to be out of work later in their working lives than their counterparts in the South, an analysis by the Centre for Ageing Better found.
One in four people in the North West and the North East are not in employment, training, education or retirement between 50 and state pension age (NETER) compared with fewer than one in five people in the South East, said its report.
The chances of being out of employment, training, education or retirement for people aged between 50 and the state pension age is almost twice as high than for people aged 16-24 in some English regions, said the charity.
The proportion of older people out of work who give ill-health or disability as the primary reason is significantly higher in the North East than in the South East, whereas London has the highest proportion of unemployed, according to the research.
Dr Andrea Barry, of the Centre for Ageing Better, said: “If the Chancellor is to deliver a Budget aimed at realising the Government’s strategy for pursuing good economic growth in every postcode of the UK, this must include meaningful financial support to arrest the alarming regional differences in NETERs.
“There can be no sustainable growth in every postcode while too many people in their 50s and 60s are shut out of opportunity.”