Almost a million young people in the UK are NEET, a crisis that’s rightly made headlines. Almost a million people over 50 are locked out of work too, at the highest rate in six years, and almost nobody’s talking about it.
Nearly one million young people in the UK, one in eight of all 16 to 24 year olds, are currently NEET: not in education, employment or training. It’s a crisis we’ve written about before, and one that’s rightly driven government attention and funding.
But according to the Centre for Ageing Better, almost one million people between the age of 50 and state pension age are also struggling to find work, the highest level in six years. More than one in five people in that age group, 21%, are NEET, compared to 13% of 16 to 24 year olds. Being out of work in your fifties or sixties is, statistically, more common than being a NEET teenager, yet the younger group has received ten times the government funding and attention.
Why over 50s unemployment gets overlooked
The Centre for Ageing Better didn’t just count the numbers. They named what’s driving them: ageism, unfounded assumptions about capability, and a Government response that simply hasn’t matched the scale of the problem.
They are both an underused pool of talent whose employment rates wallow at levels well below other age groups. They are both groups whose capabilities are questioned or underestimated based on unfounded assumptions about their age.
Dr Andrea Barry, Centre for Ageing Better
For the women we support at Baytree, many of whom are over 50, this isn’t a statistic. It’s the daily reality of being overlooked by employers, out of step with a job market that’s moved on since they last applied for work, and offered far less structured support than younger jobseekers.
How Baytree is responding
Our Women’s Service runs a range of employability programmes designed to meet women exactly where they are, whatever their age or stage.
Employment Support. One to one appointments where women get hands-on help with their CV, cover letters and interview skills.
Digital Skills Job Club. Practical support for women to use their laptop or phone to search and apply for jobs effectively, closing a gap that disproportionately affects older jobseekers.
Routes to Volunteering Class. Helping women explore volunteering opportunities and build the skills that open doors into paid work.
Work Ready Class. Building the English language skills women need for the workplace, and taking positive, practical steps towards finding a job.
Age is definitely a factor, but many women over 50 face multiple overlapping barriers to employment. Digital skills gaps, limited access to technology, language barriers, caring responsibilities, CV gaps, neurodiversity, trauma and refugee experiences can all make finding work significantly harder. We need to move away from seeing this as an individual deficit and instead ask how employers and employment services can make recruitment more accessible and inclusive for everyone.
Sarah, Social Mobility Coach (employability), Women’s Service
Find out more about our Women’s Service and how our employability programmes can help.
Support our Women’s Service through volunteering, mentoring or donations.
