PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

Recent research from the office for National Statistics showed that whilst the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had been greatest for younger workers, those older workers aged 50 years and over have also been affected and to a greater extent than those in middle age. For example, employment for older workers was at a record high just prior to the beginning of the lockdown in March 2002 but since then, it has fallen at a higher rate than for the rest of the working population. The data also showed that those employees aged 50 years and over were more likely to report working fewer hours than usual because of the coronavirus than those aged under 50 years, with those aged 65 years and over the most likely to say they had worked reduced hours. In addition, older workers had the highest overall increase in redundancies, and this presents a bigger challenge for this age group as they are more likely to be unemployed long-term than younger people.  In fact, once older workers lose their j...

As a trustee of Prime Cymru - the only organisation in Wales dedicated to providing practical support to people aged 50 and over who want to become and remain economically active - I was naturally interested in the latest update of the “Golden Age Index” from the global accountancy company PWC. Through an annual examination of a broad range of indicators relating to the participation of older people in employment and training, it analyses how economies within the OECD group of 37 countries are harnessing the power of their older workers. Overall, there is good news in that the study shows that the OECD is increasing the engagement of older people in the workforce with countries such as Iceland, New Zealand, Israel, Estonia and Sweden leading the way as exemplars to other nations. Indeed, it was estimated that if all OECD countries raises their employment rates of those aged over 55 to match those found in New Zealand, then the overall boost to OECD GDP could be as much as £2.6...

I am very proud to be a trustee of Prime Cymru (The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise in Wales) which was founded by HRH Prince Charles in 2002 to provide practical support to people aged 50 and over who want to become and remain economically active. It not only supports people back into employment but also helps older people to establish new businesses, providing resources, mentoring and support to those interested in creating a new venture. And this support is vital with interest in self-employment by older people increasing. In fact, research published by Barclays earlier this week showed that the number of businesses run by people aged over 55 has increased by more than 63 per cent over the past decade as compared to a 23 per cent growth for those run by 25-34 year olds. And those aged over 65 recorded a 140 per cent increase in entrepreneurship and self-employment. Given this, I was particularly interested to read a special report from the Global Entrepreneurship...

One of my most enjoyable roles in business is as a trustee of PRIME Cymru, the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise in Wales. This is the only organisation in Wales dedicated to providing practical support to people aged 50 and over who want to become (and remain) economically active. PRIME Cymru was founded by HRH The Prince of Wales fifteen years ago in response to letters he had received from many people saying that they felt that after the age of 50 they were on the scrapheap and they had faced insurmountable problems in securing paid employment because of their age. Indeed, economic activity amongst the over 50s is a critical problem in Wales with nearly a quarter of a million people not working (or 38 per cent of the total number of people in this age group). That is why the work of PRIME Cymru is so important and through its staff, trained mentors and associates, the organisation provides clients throughout Wales with free tailored one to one support whether they ...

Last week, I was back in North Wales as a trustee of Prime Cymru to attend the opening of their new offices in Colwyn Bay. Founded by HRH the Prince of Wales in 2001, the charity provides advice and support to individuals over the age of 50 who are economically inactive, under employed or at risk of redundancy and potentially be at risk of being marginalised and facing older age poverty. Since its establishment, it has been, and still remains, the only organisation in Wales dedicated to providing tailored advice and support to the economically inactive 50 plus age group. In fact, whilst there is a focus on providing support to young people through many programmes and initiatives at a UK and Welsh Government level, it is worth noting that there remain considerable employment and economic activity issues for older people in Wales that have been largely ignored. For example, over 1 in 3 of all older people aged 50 to retirement age are currently not working (i.e. 210,000 people)...