Hey Rishi, overlooked jobless over50s need a lifeline too
The future of work this time – that’s the thread I’m pulling from the jaws of what’s increasingly looking like a global depression in my ongoing series The Post-COVID Future of Everything.
Everything’s in flux – what jobs will survive four months of the forced shutdown of supply and demand. That’s never happened before.
There’s no end of speculation about the magnitude of the unemployment surge ahead. There’s no recovery-path consensus from economists – how could there be? COVID has exploded all the certainties and models of yore.
The pandemic’s impact on older workers is being tracked by the fabulous Stuart Lewis, founder CEO of the digital jobs and advice site Rest Less UK, a partner of The Big Middle.
He warns Chancellor Rishi Sunak is distorting the labour market with his temporary youth jobs scheme, sabotaging the survival efforts of overlooked jobless over50s.
What’s the right crisis response to surging unemployment and financial precarity for all ages?
We hear the heart-rending stories of long-time jobless Maura and Steve, both living on a knife-edge but, somehow, battling on to try to beat the ageism odds and get a job, any job.
Links
- Rest Less UK Summer Statement reaction news release warning youth Kickstart scheme could leave at least 660,000 over50s dependent on Universal Credit benefits for a decade
- Rest Less UK research reported by Amelia Hill in The Guardian, June 2020: UK reports rise in over-50s struggling to pay for necessities
- Ipsos MORI and the Centre for Ageing Better research, June 2020: Lockdown could leave next generation of retirees poorer and sicker than the last
- Stuart’s blog for the International Longevity Centre UK: Why aren’t more people talking about the impact of longevity on the workforce?
- Rest Less website
- Rest Less on Twitter
- Rest Less on Facebook
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- Music: “Beautiful Day” by Sahin Koc
Thoughts?