Older women in the labour market: A debate on 30th June

TAEN are organising a debate about the position of older women in the labour market; it takes place on Monday 30th June 2014 at the House of Commons. Full details are available here on their website.

It looks to be an interesting event, asking questions such as:

• Do current labour market policies acknowledge the special challenges faced by older women?
• What kind of changes should older women be seeking?
• How far are issues relating to health, careers, family and social roles recognised and addressed?
• How will older women adjust to the changes in state pension age and Government expectations of working longer?

There has of course been recent media coverage of what has been called the ‘forgotten army’ of older women, as reported here in The Independent. This followed statistics that show the number of unemployed women over 50 rose from 111,000 in 2010 to 161,000 in 2014, an increase of 45%. The number of men out of work in the same age group fell from 264,000 to 229,000, a decrease of 13% over the same period. As we blogged last week, there are many ways in which these figures can be interpreted and, judging by the comments that The Independent article has attracted reflecting the experiences of both genders, it promises to be a stimulating discussion.