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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Helping the poorest help themselves?
— encouraging employment past 65 in England and the USA | | Author(s) | David Lain |
| Journal title | Journal of Social Policy, vol 40, part 3, July 2011 |
| Pages | pp 493-512 |
| Source | http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJourna... |
| Keywords | Employment of older people ; 65-69 age group ; Ageism ; Poor elderly ; Social security benefits ; Means testing ; England ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | In the context of population ageing and low retirement incomes, the UK government has increasingly sought to encourage people to work longer. However UK means-tested benefits, that are lost as a result of working, mean that delaying retirement is a less attractive option for the poorest. In addition UK employees may have limited opportunity to delay retirement as line management decide whether individuals are allowed to work beyond the age of 65. In contrast in the US, benefits are meagre and difficult to access and age discrimination legislation protects individuals from forced retirement. This paper examines whether adopting a US policy approach in the UK would increase employment of the poorest over 65s and enhance their financial position. The study uses data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and the US Health and Retirement Study to examine how wealth influences employment and how this is mediated by differences in health and education. It suggests that extending UK age discrimination legislation and restricting benefits would increase overall employment past 65, although not necessarily to US levels. The poorest over 65s are more likely to work in the USA than in England, but employment amongst the poorest is still low, especially compared with wealthier groups. A US policy approach would most likely damage the financial position of the poorest in the UK, with increased employment not sufficiently compensating for lost benefits. (JL). |
| Accession Number | CPA-110926007 A |
| Classmark | GC: BBE: B:TOB: F:W6: JH: JF4C: 82: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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