Older workers 'forced into early retirement'

Unemployed people over the age of 50 could be forced into early retirement due to a lack of support, a new study has warned.

The TUC report found that older people face a much higher chance of long-term unemployment, with almost half of all unemployed people over 50 having been out of work for more than a year.

Older workers are ten times more likely to be unemployed after two years, than to be back in work.

The report also suggests that for each year that an older man remains unemployed, he is 24.3% less likely to find work again.

The TUC is calling on the Government to provided tailored support for older people, to ensure that they are not forced into early retirement, and wants to see an extension of the job guarantee to apply to older workers.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said, 'Older people […] have the skills and experience needed to get us through this recession. The Government must introduce tailored support for older people to prevent them being forced into retirement against their will and facing old age in poverty'.