Giving statistics a bad name

‘Life getting worse’ say elderly. This is the headline of a press release promoting a new report, One Voice: Shaping our ageing society, which the newly amalgamated charity, Age Concern and Help the Aged has just released.  Fair enough, it probably is – after all, it seems to be getting worse for most other people.

However, a closer look reveals that the headline is based on results showing that only around one in four (24%) people aged 65 and over said their quality of life had got worse in the last 12 months while another 66% said it had not improved at all. So in fact over three quarters – 76% – are apparently acknowledging that their quality of life hasn’t got any worse. Not exactly what the headline implies is it?

A survey across all age ranges would probably give a pretty similar output. For most of us things haven’t got better in the last year. It may even be that comparatively things have got worse for younger people.

Age Concern and Help the Aged is undoubtedly a much-needed lobbying organization for the needs and concerns of the elderly. But if they want to be taken seriously they need to base their soundbites on stronger foundations.

Link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hFSrfQ8_6ZrXbDhPvnYd8-Eykq7w

Non-retirement isn’t working

The CIPD reports that according to figures from the Office for National Statistics unemployment among the over-50s rose by 27 per cent over the last quarter, compared with a rise of 8 per cent among those aged 24 to 49. Martin Lishman, Director-General of Age Concern, said that only one in five of the over-50s who lose their jobs are back in work two years later.

Last week the House of Lords expressed support for a campaign by Heyday, a branch of Age Concern, to make fixed retirement ages unlawful. Lishman urged the government to “urgently scrap pointless mandatory retirement ages so people who want and need to continue working can do so”.

If only it was that simple. The majority of the over 50s who are now unemployed are unlikely to be so because of the mandatory retirement age barrier. For a start, many are likely to be far younger. Surely the key issue is why only 20% will have landed a job two years later. Employer resistance to hiring the over 50s? Ageist stereotypes?  Lack of appropriate skills in the over 50s? Lack of confidence? Lack of persistence in applying for jobs in the face of total disinterest and rejection?

Probably a combination of all of these and more.  Mandatory retirement is likely to be low on the list.

A silver lining?

If anything good comes from the current recession – and we can only hope that it does – it may be that progress is made on addressing two long-standing workplace problems. First is the issue of the recruitment of over 50s into meaningful, valuable, mainstream jobs i.e. the range of career positions we’ve been used to as opposed to a “little job” at Sainsburys, or B&Q. Second is the desire of just about all workers at all ages to have better work-life balance and improved flexibility about where, when and how much we work.

For years, numerous academic, government and commercial researchers have come out with reports showing that a) this is definitely what people want and b) it generally just isn’t happening. Of course, it’s easy to see why employers have dragged their heels. Why change things when they don’t have to (i.e. if it ain’t broke – and from their point of view it isn’t – why invest time and effort in fixing it)?

Interesting then to see how quickly employers can move when the need to save money becomes immediate and pressing. Part-time working, sabbaticals, reduced hours and home working, and more besides, are suddenly all being introduced by employers anxious not to make staff redundant.

On a longer term basis let’s hope that this pressure to review their business needs on a more in-depth basis will see more employers realizing that it is the quality of individual employees in terms of their skills, knowledge, experience and wisdom that they should be judging rather than the meaningless criterion of chronological age.

Ageism is still the most pervasive and invidious form of discrimination in our society. Let’s hope that the recession leads to some real steps forward in terms of changing attitudes and practices.

The loaves and fishes job market

Interesting news about a new service which enables organisations to sell the time of their staff.

Called StaffShare, http://www.staffshare.co.uk/home/index.html it allows organisations to register individuals, who could be under-utilised or at risk of redundancy, on a website offering their services on short- or medium-term secondment basis. Organisations interested in an employee, which will initially be restricted to charities and the voluntary sector, can then buy their services for the selected period through the website.

The scheme has been welcomed by the TUC with general secretary Brendan Barber commenting: “StaffShare is part of a new approach that is needed if we are to avoid the waste of talent and human tragedies that occur if companies rush prematurely into redundancies when conditions start to get tough. This will keep people in employment while allowing third sector organisations to draw on specialist expertise.”

StaffShare is a fully automated interactive system, which allows organisations to sell and buy the time of skilled professionals including, but not exclusive to Financial Controllers, HR Managers, Marketing Executives, IT Professionals, Web Designers and Grant Writers.

We think it’s a great idea and one that should be seized upon by all sectors in respect of all types and levels of jobs. It could, on a long-term basis, solve many of the problems of older workers and the gap which exists between our wants and needs for work (i.e. generally to work longer but on a more flexible basis) and those of employers (who want us, if at all, to work full-time and then retire – generally early).

But no doubt such a scheme would be beset with tax, pensions, health and safety and goodness knows what other bureaucratic issues which ultimately would strangle it in its infancy.

At the very least let’s hope this idea is only the start of a whole raft of recession inspired schemes about how to share out work and rewards more fairly and profitably for all. If this happened, and some were adopted, the recession could be ultimately a very good thing.