The government has published its action plan to promote work opportunities for older workers.
It reaches ten key conclusions:
- the government developing a vision of the role and value of older people in society;
- introducing age discrimination legislation if the voluntary code proves ineffective;
- increasing contact with people on sickness and disability benefits;
- providing careers information specifically for older displaced workers;
- raising the minimum age at which an immediate pension is payable from 50 to 55;
- improving the transparency of occupational pensions by showing the cost of early retirement in company accounts;
- reviewing the civil service retirement age to 65;
- promoting flexible working patterns;
- introducing a volunteer scheme to help older people put their experience to good use;
- introducing pilots to find new ways of rewarding volunteer activity.
Winning the Generation Game. 117 pages. HMSO £19.50
[2000]