The horrible truth about age, work and gender
June 29, 2012 1 Comment
According to a recent (June 2012) report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) the numbers of those now working past state pension age has nearly doubled in past 20 years – from 753,000 in 1993 to 1.4 million in 2011. Of these, 39 per cent are men and 61 per cent are women.
They report, unsurprisingly, that over that time, the numbers were relatively stable until 2000 but rose quickly thereafter to a peak of 1.45 million in 2010.
So what are all these older workers doing?
Although a high proportion (32%) are self-employed (compared with just 13 per cent of those below that age) the remainder demonstrate shocking differences in terms of the types of work undertaken by men and women.
Around two-thirds of these men work in jobs classed as higher skilled such as property managers, marketing and sales directors, production managers and chief executives of organisations. That said, of all the jobs carried out by men, the two most common were farmers and taxi drivers.
On the other hand almost two-thirds of female older workers above state pension age (and remember there are a lot more of them) work in lower skilled jobs - the most common job being cleaners, followed by administration assistants, care workers and retail assistants.
How does one interpret this? As reflecting the success of feminism or its abject failure?
I am so glad I don’t have to worry about working now. Now got my health to think about more though!