work & employment

• Youth


  Being young may affect employment chances - restrictions on when & where you may work. Eg. If you are 14 or 15 in the UK, you can't work more than 12 hours during a school week & if under 13 you're not allowed to do paid work at all.
• Youth


  May feel that employers are always going to pick someone older for the job as they're likely to have more experience, young people are cheap labour & thus being young may have some advantages.
• The unemployment rate for 16 to 24 yr olds has been largely rising since 2004. 40% in 2024
• The elderly


  Many media articles discuss people becoming 'too old to employ'. 38% of discrimination cases after 2006 cited age as the reason
• Arlene Phillips - the elderly

  Judge on Strictly Come Dancing. Lost her job and replaced by a younger women Alesha Dixon
• Legislation surrounding retirement age is felt by some to be a possible area of prejudice & discrimination.
• State pension


  When you retire in the UK, you will receive a state pension subject to having been a working citizen in the UK, paying national insurance for 30 years. State pension age is currently 65 for men. 66 in 2024.
• Compulsory retirement age


  Phased out in the UK, but an employer can still set a compulsory retirement age if they can justify it.
• Structuralists


  Argue it is society which determines the age someone is when they retire, rather than the individual's choice. Retirement age is far from being the same for everyone in reality, for some an option is early retirement.
• Those who have financial security will not 'grow old' in the same way as those who have to work until they drop
• Demographic time bomb


  In 2024, 38% of the population are over 50. If there are more people over 65 than under 16, this has repercussions for the UK as a whole, such as dependency & having so many people possibly needing health care.
• Demographic time bomb evaluation

  Assumes all elderly people will be poor & require a lot of care, but improvements in health care mean the picture is not that simple & that the impact of the ageing population is not easy to predict. Evidence suggest many older people are working post-retirement, whether it be in voluntary positions or in paid positions because they simply cannot afford to retire.
• Jones et al - Work & employment

  1. Three main themes emerged:The respondents saw the fact that they had more choice in arranging their retirement as an indication of their higher status.2. The respondents described early retirement very positively as a time of creative renewal & freedom with opportunity to pursue new interests & challenges.3. The respondents were aware that they were fortunate in comparison to both past & future generations who faced more unemployment, reduced pensions & insecurity.