One third of UK workers fear they will be unfit for work by 60

Over one third (36.5 percent) of UK workers believe they will be unable to do their job at 60, according to the latest statistics, revealed exclusively today in the journal íHazardsí. The report shows that in just six years the UK has slipped from being number one in the European league table for the proportion of workers who are confident they will be up to their current job when aged 60, to sixth. Hazards calls on employers to stop using bogus health and safety excuses to get rid of, or not employ older people, and start helping keep the ageing UK population in work and off benefits.

The report, íGoing strongí, shows that the great majority of employees have no significant health impediments to prevent them working up to 65, or beyond if they wish, yet poor health is the most common reason why people over 50 leave a job, with only half retiring early by choice.

New Europe-wide survey findings revealed in the report show just 63.5 per cent of UK workers feel they will be able to do the same job when they are 60 years old. Germany tops the ranking with 73.6 per cent of its workers believing they will still be up to their jobs, followed by the Netherlands (71.2 per cent), Sweden (69.7 per cent), Denmark (68.8 per cent) and Finland (65.2 per cent). The UK has slipped to just above the EU15 average of 61 per cent and EU25 figure of 58.9 per cent.

Given the UKís ídemographic timebombí of a rapidly ageing workforce and planned increase in state pension age, older workers should use the new age discrimination protections to keep their jobs and resist being pushed onto benefits, the report says. It adds that age laws could be used alongside disability protections to require employers to make the necessary adjustments, usually minor and inexpensive, to enable staff to stay in work as long as possible. The report also calls for older workers to have a legal right to request flexible working patterns as they move towards retirement and for employers to develop íage management strategiesí for over staff aged over 45, to minimise strains on health.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, said:

Britain is sitting on a ídemographic timebombí. If we are going to enable older people to stay in work and off benefits, employers are going to have to stop pushing them out on bogus health and safety grounds and start working to keep them employed. The new age laws should be a useful tool in ensuring older workers can continue to earn a quality living but also that the UK economy benefits from the energy and expertise of a valuable section of the workforce.

Hazards Editor Rory OíNeill, said:

We are living longer and we are staying healthier longer, so there is no rational reason why we shouldnít be able to survive Britainís workplaces for 50 years or more. But intense, stressful, poorly designed work will exact a cumulative toll, so employer-run and government-supported íwork abilityí initiatives need to target workers in middle age, so that the workforce remains skilled up and not worn down.

Key findings from íGoing strongí:

In the 2000 European Working Conditions Survey, UK workers were the most confident they would be able to do their jobs when they reached 60, compared to the other 15 EU countries. In the 2005 survey findings, published this month, the UK slipped to 6th in Europe (EU15), behind Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

A previous Employersí Forum on Age study (2005) found that almost half the workforce would be happy to work until they were 70, but only one in five thought they would be fit enough.

As the population ages, the ídependency ratioí between workers and pensioners is increasing. By 2016 the number of people under 50 will fall by two per cent, while the number aged 50 - 69 will rise by 17 per cent.

Poor health is the commonest reason people aged between 50 and state pension age leave a job and nearly half (45 per cent) had suffered a health problem for at least a year. Older people in the UK are much more likely to be economically inactive due to a disability than in any other EU or OECD country. This is especially true for the over 60s.

One piece of research showed that 40 per cent of men and 20 per cent of women retired earlier than they expected, and employers had instigated two thirds of these early retirements. Another study found that only half of those retiring early said it was their choice.

Stereotypes about older people and fitness for work are false. Physical ability is dependent on health and fitness across the whole lifecycle, psychometric and cognitive capabilities do not deteriorate until well after state pension age and the over-50s are positive about learning IT skills. Also, older works are off sick less than younger workers as they tend to have fewer but longer spells of absence and fewer short spells. The report calls for, among other things:

Employers to negotiate an íage managementí policy with trade unions and employees to eliminate age discrimination and retain older workers. This should include identifying and supporting training needs for íageingí workers 45 and over and offering older staff flexible working to ídownshiftí towards retirement. To underpin such measures the government should extend to the over-fifties the right to request to work flexibly and the right to training with paid time off.

Age management policies should consider requests for reasonable adjustments to work stations, equipment and working practices for older workers, many of whom may have a right to this under the Disability Discrimination Act.

Employees and unions should use age discrimination legislation to challenge dismissal or failure to recruit or train older workers on spurious health and safety grounds.

Healthy ageing and maintaining the ability to work depend on health and fitness over the whole life cycle not just in old age. A 65 year old who has exercised for 20 years loses no physical capacity and is fitter than a younger colleague who doesnít exercise. The government should promote healthy living across the whole lifecycle and employers should introduce training in good ergonomic practice and new technology, and workplace exercise programmes. Workers reporting they believed they would be able to do the same job at 60

Euro ranking 2000 (%) 2005 (%)

1. UK (60.3) Germany (73.6)
2. Austria (58.6) The Netherlands (71.2)
3. The Netherlands (58.4) Sweden (69.7)
4. Denmark (58.3) Denmark (68.8)
5. Germany (58.0) Finland (65.2)
6. Finland (57.6) UK (63.5)
7. Italy (55.2) Italy (59.9) [=7]
8. Ireland (54.7) Austria (59.9) [=7]
9. Sweden (54.6) Greece (58.8)
10. Spain (52.8) Luxembourg (54.4)
11. Luxembourg (52.6) Spain (53.5)
12. Belgium (49.4) Ireland (53.2)
13. Greece (48.4) Belgium (52.3)
14. Portugal (43.6) France (48.6)
15. France (40.2) Portugal (47.5)

Source: Statistical comparison using data from the European Working Conditions Surveys 2000 and 2005.