‘Grey Power’ and employment gains

The Mail Online reports in this article that recent increases in UK employment are mostly attributable to the over 50s.

According to research by investment bank Citi, this age group is responsible for all of the net gain in employment since the beginning of the economic downturn in 2008. ONS figures suggest that 93% of the jobs increase in the last 10 years has been in the over 50s.

The piece is accompanied by a graphic representing the age distribution of people in work and based on ONS figures. It’s probably worth pointing out the scale used on the vertical axis and noting the successive Government policies that have been implemented over the same period (1982 to 2012). These include targets to get 50% of school leavers into university, early exit policies encouraging retirement at 50 plus, then the pensions crisis and the outlawing of age discrimination.

Lots of reader comments, many (not all) reinforcing the notion that different generations are engaged in a ‘battle’ for jobs and generalising about the relative merits (or not) of younger and older workers.