Help mothers and older staff stay in their jobs instead of trying to lure retirees back into the workplace, says think-tank
- The Government should look to ‘reform childcare support and work incentives’
- Between 2017-2019 only 50% of lower-income women aged 25 to 54 worked
Mothers, older workers and the disabled should be helped to stay in their jobs rather than pushing the retired back into work, according to a think-tank.
The call came as a former pensions minister said the Treasury was ‘barking up the wrong tree’ by trying to lure retirees back into the workplace.
In a report, the Resolution Foundation said the Government must address a ‘maternal employment gap’.
It said that from 2017 to 2019 only 50 per cent of lower-income women aged between 25 and 54 were in the workforce compared with 94 per cent of high-income women of the same age.
To remedy this, it said the Government should look to ‘reform childcare support and work incentives’ for lower-income families, especially those on Universal Credit.
A former pensions minister said the Treasury was ‘barking up the wrong tree’ by trying to lure retirees back into the workplace (stock image)
The foundation also highlighted that a growing share of the population was living with disabilities and ill health, and said changes could be made to stop those affected from leaving the workforce permanently.
It called on ministers to create a ‘right of return’ policy so workers who needed to take some time off for health reasons could remain with their employer and job.
Meanwhile, the report noted the people who left the workforce in the pandemic were mostly ‘higher-paid professionals’ retiring and it would be ‘hard to persuade’ them back into work as most owned their homes and had low living costs.
If the UK fails to make progress in these areas, the foundation warned that economic inactivity – where people are out of work and not seeking employment – was set to rise to nearly 31 per cent of those aged 15 to 75 by 2030 from 29.5 per cent currently, the highest level since 2001.
The report followed comments from former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb, who said the steep rise in inactive Britons was more likely because of illness than early retirement.
‘There is a real risk of the Government barking up the wrong tree when it comes to the growth in economic inactivity,’ he added.
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