Why people between the age of 50 and pension age are not working.
Previously did an undergraduate degree from the University of Wolverhampton in Economics and recently completed a master’s degree in the same field from the University of Birmingham.
Started the Ph.D. in 2022 economics from the University of Birmingham. Currently a part-time worker as a GCSE tutor and a full-time PhD student.
The research for the Ph.D. focuses on why people between the age of 50 and pension age are not working in the UK. The dataset that will be used for this research is the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing which for short is called ELSA.
Recently, the decision of individuals aged 50 to retirement age not to work has gained significant attention in the UK, becoming a prominent topic in the news. Worrying statistics reveal a concerning trend, indicating that between November 2022 and January 2023, approximately 3.5 million people within this age group were unemployed and not actively seeking work. This represents a striking increase of 280,000 individuals compared to data from January 2020 to March 2020 (Rankl, 2023).
During the spring budget of 2023, the chancellor delivered a statement that further emphasized the urgency of addressing this issue. The chancellor noted, "We have around one million vacancies in the economy... but excluding students, there are over seven million adults of working age who are not in work. That is a potential pool of seven people for every vacancy. We believe work is a virtue" (Hunt, 2023). This statement highlights the alarming nature of the problem and the immediate need for a solution, as individuals aged 50 and above possess significant potential to contribute to the country's labour productivity.