This research highlights the challenges faced by employees with long-term health conditions. It warns that more support is needed to help people manage their conditions in the workplace if the state pension is to rise further.
Good quality work can provide – or, at least, support – financial security, physical and mental health, housing and community connections people need to enjoy their later life. But both people aged 50 and over and people living with long-term conditions and disabilities face barriers to employment.
The pandemic has not only widened the disability employment gap and the age employment gap, but also the gap between those in good and bad employment. Our research, conducted over the first year of the pandemic, indicates that employers who were already supportive of workers’ health stepped up during the crisis.
This research, carried out by the Institute for Employment Studies, takes a look at stories of people aged 50 and over living with long-term conditions and disabilities. It makes recommendations for the government and employers, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
We need to urgently bring forward measures currently on the table. And we need a major step change in management capabilities and employer attitudes as well as supportive legislation, guidance and financial support for people on sick leave.
Watch the full playlist of videos detailing the experiences of people over 50 living and working with long-term conditions
