The UK is “headed in the wrong direction” for older workers with ill-health

Tackling economic inactivity due to ill-health is high on the UK government’s agenda. Their Get Britain Working White Paper introduces eight 'Inactivity Trailblazers' aimed at integrating work, health, and skills support.

So far, the government’s focus  has largely been on younger people, as rising worklessness among young UK adults with health conditions is a growing concern.  

But recent research from the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) for the Commission for Healthier Working Lives reveals another pressing issue: older workers with health conditions are being left behind.

The UK’s Widening Employment Gap for Older Workers

The IES report makes one thing clear: tackling economic inactivity needs to be a priority across all age groups.  

Comparing health and work outcomes in 15 European countries, the research finds that while workers with health conditions face employment barriers everywhere, the situation in the UK is particularly worrying. In most areas, the UK ranks among the worst performers.

The UK boasts a high employment rate for those without health conditions, keeping pace with northern European and Scandinavian nations. But the gap between those with and without health conditions is one of the widest, at 24%. By contrast, Luxembourg and Denmark have far smaller disparities, at just 7% and 12%, respectively. Only Ireland and Belgium show a bigger divide. 

Between 2018 and 2022, the likelihood of being out of work due to ill-health rose in the UK but fell for people aged 55–64 in most EU15 countries, countries that were part of the EU prior to expansion in 2004. The report points to a likely reason: an uneven distribution of labour market interventions, with older workers missing out on much-needed support.

The authors conclude that, for older workers with ill-health, the UK appears to be “headed in the wrong direction”. 

The Urgent Need for an Age-Positive Approach

These findings echo our own research, published in our report Why the over 50s are key to solving the health and work dilemma.  

Our data reveals a growing gap in health-related employment with age: only 57% of people aged 50–65 with a long-term health condition are employed, compared to 73% of those aged 35–49.  

This means those with long-term health conditions are 60% more likely to be out of work if they are 50–65, even though they are not substantially more likely to describe their condition as ‘work-limiting’. This disparity suggests that people are getting left behind not just because of their health, but because of their age.  

For the IES researchers, a major flaw in the UK’s approach to health and work is a lack of integration. Policies across the workforce health landscape are not well-coordinated, especially when it comes to defining responsibilities for key players like employers.  

The UK stands out among countries with less integrated approaches. And the downside of this is clear: fragmented policies result in less proactive support and make workplace health resources harder to access. Early intervention is essential to improving outcomes, yet this remains a gap. 

Initiatives aimed at helping with retention are not as successful for this age group. The Access to Work scheme is a good example of this.

The scheme provides grants for workplace adjustments, equipment, or travel support and is available to all workers—including the self-employed.  

Given the health challenges older workers face, we would expect more of this support to be directed their way. Instead, the opposite is true: approvals are high among those aged 50–54 but sharply decline after 60. Despite 17% of workers with long-term health conditions being aged 60+, they make up only 7% of Access to Work grant recipients.  

Our Age Without Limits research recently uncovered that one in four people (24%) think it does not make business sense to employ someone over 50 because they will be a slow worker who will not be able to adapt. The campaign has also revealed that being poor or disabled can make a person up to four times more likely to be subjected to ageism.  

Given these practical and attitudinal barriers, it’s no surprise that workers in their 50s and 60s are at risk of being left behind. 

What Needs to Change?

Previous governments have taken ‘age-neutral’ approaches that have largely not worked, leaving some older workers with health conditions to struggle on without the right support and many more ending up out of the labour market entirely.

We need a new approach, one that is: 

• Age-Positive: Set high performance targets for those aged 50–59 and 60–65 for all employment support and work and health interventions, ensuring outcomes for these groups are on par with younger cohorts.
• Age-Curious: Conduct more granular analyses of how work and health interventions impact different age groups, fostering learning and innovation.
• Age-Targeted: Invest in age-specific support interventions, specifically designed to overcome both external and internalised ageism. 

At the Centre for Ageing Better, we’ve been exploring ways to ensure that the voice and experiences of Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in their 50s and 60s are at heart of our policy agenda.  

Our Supporting Disabled Older Workers (SDOW) project has recruited a panel of nine individuals with a mix of gender, ethnicity, geography, employment status and age to explore how to raise employment rates and standards for the cohort.  

Ultimately, our approach to workforce health must be built on the right attitudes. If we accept that older workers will naturally drop out of the labour market due to ill-health, we do a disservice both to them and to the broader UK economy.

Instead, we must challenge this assumption and push for a system that supports workers of all ages in achieving their full potential.