Prime Minister urged to arrest North-South divide in older worker unemployment
The Centre for Ageing Better is raising awareness of the number of people aged between 50 and state pension age not in employment, training, education or retirement – a group we call NETERs.
Our latest analysis reveals that NETER rates are significantly higher in the north of the country than the south as we call on the government to regularly publish a NETER figure and take action at the upcoming Budget to tackle the crisis.
People in the North are almost 50% more likely to be out of work later in their working lives than their counterparts in the South, new analysis from the Centre for Ageing Better reveals.
Almost one in four people (24%) in the North West and the North East of the country are not in employment, training, education or retirement between 50 and state pension age (NETER) compared with fewer than one in five people (17%) in the South East.
The Centre for Ageing Better is urging Prime Minister Andy Burnham to take urgent action to tackle the NETER North-South divide – beginning with a commitment in this month’s Budget.
Yorkshire and Humber (21%) and the West Midlands (23%) are also among the regions where the regional NETER rate is higher than, or equal to, the national NETER rate whereas the East of England (17%), the South West (19%) and the East Midlands (20%) all have rates below the UK average.
The proportion of the 50-SPA population that is NETER is higher than the proportion of NEETs among the 16-24-year-old population in every single region of England. The chances of being out of employment, training, education or retirement for people aged 50-SPA is almost twice as high than for people aged 16-24 in some English regions.
The regional pattern of NETERs shares similarities with geographical variations for NEETs but London is a significant outlier. The capital has the second-highest NETER rate (23%) in the country but a relatively low NEET rate of 12%.
With 476,000 people aged 50-SPA not in employment, training, education or retirement, the South East has the highest number of NETERs in the UK despite having the lowest NETER rates which reflects the fact that the South East has the largest 50-SPA population in the country. #Other regions in the country with high NETERs population, either due to large 50-SPA populations or high NETER rates or a combination of both, include:
- London – 361,000
- North West – 353,000
- West Midlands – 281,000
The analysis also reveals that the reasons for being out of work vary significantly region-by-region. The proportion of people out of work and aged between 50-SPA who give ill-health or disability as the primary reason is significantly higher in the North East (64%) than in the South East (47%) whereas London has the highest proportion of unemployed (17%).
The Centre for Ageing Better is calling for strategic authorities to understand the causes of their own NETER crisis and find the correct remedies to tackle it urgently.
Dr Andrea Barry, Deputy Director for Work, Retirement and Transitions at the Centre for Ageing Better, said:
NETER rates and numbers vary considerably across the country, reflecting varying local factors and labour markets. Like the NEET figure, they can often be a good indicator of the relative strength of the local labour market.
“The North East and East Midlands both have above average NETER and NEET rates, while rates of both tend to be lower across southern England. London stands out as an exception to this, suggesting the capital’s labour market is more challenging for people aged 50-SPA than their younger counterparts.
“As with NEETs, the challenge in tackling the NETER crisis is particularly acute in parts of the country already facing long-term economic disadvantage as the product of years of deindustrialisation and falling investment across whole swathes of the country.
“If the Chancellor is to deliver a Budget aimed at realising the government’s strategy for pursuing good economic growth in every postcode of the UK, this must include meaningful financial support to arrest the alarming regional differences in NETERs. There can be no sustainable growth in every postcode while too many people in their 50s and 60s are shut out of opportunity – including in the Prime Minister’s own political heartlands.”
The Centre for Ageing Better launched its NETER campaign in September calling on the government to officially track the growing number of 50+ people not in education, training, employment or retirement and to devote resources to tackle the issue proportionate to the high-profile and prioritised response to the NEET crisis.
So far the campaign has revealed that:
Not being in education, employment or training is more common amongst people aged between 50 and state pension age than it is amongst young people.
The number of NETERs across the UK stands at 2.9 million people for 2025.
More than 900,000 people aged between 50 and state pension age were interested in or actively seeking work between October and December 2025.
The total amount in government funding pledges to support young people back into work over the past decade is almost ten times larger than the amount pledged to tackle 50+ unemployment.
The campaign, which is being backed by a number of organisations including the Learning and Work Institute, Age UK and Hospitality UK, is calling on the government to regularly publish the numbers of NETERs as a headline measure alongside other labour market indicators and use it to drive a new strategy for longer working lives.
The Centre for Ageing Better is also calling for NETER data to be used to help local and national leaders identify where barriers are greatest and where interventions are succeeding to support a more place-based approach to longer working lives.
The charity is also urging the government to make a meaningful commitment to support older working age people who are NETER in the Budget later this month.
The Centre for Ageing Better will update its figure for the number of NETERs regularly, which will be displayed via a new NETERs online data dashboard to be launched next month.
Elaine Smith, Head of Age-friendly Employment Support, Skills and Practice at the Centre for Ageing Better, said:
The government has long kept close tabs on the numbers of NEETs in this country. Through this prioritisation and monitoring, they have correctly identified a significant issue currently and are taking steps to rectify that. The same now needs to happen with NETERs.
“Paying close attention to the NETER numbers, and looking beyond headline rates to understand the different factors driving economic inactivity in different places, is a fundamental first step in tackling the problem.
“Only by publishing and monitoring the NETER figure regularly can each region understand the scale of the problem, its specific causes within each region, and whether the remedies to tackle them are working. Understanding NETERs in local economies should provide strong evidence for how local policymakers should be organising their budgets. This will be more important than ever with the Prime Minister determined to devolve more powers to local government as part of his strategic vision for this country.” `