Over-fifties willing to work are 'dumped on the scrap heap'

More than a million older people are out of work because employers are failing to invest in training or make minor adjustments for disabilities, a TUC study claimed.

The report, Ready, willing and able, warns that industry and the government have to defuse the "demographic time bomb" of an ageing workforce being forced out of jobs and onto benefits.

It shows that more than one million unemployed people aged between 50 and 65 want a job, and dismisses the myth of luxury early retirement. Many older people who are not working are surviving on state support until they reach state pension age, the report says.

TUC deputy general secretary Frances O'Grady has called on employers to carry out age audits of staff to stop discrimination and retain older workers. She warned that, unless there was a change of attitude, government plans to raise the state pension would simply push even more older people on to benefits. The TUC predicts that the size of the potential workforce aged between 50 and 69 will rise by 17% over the next decade.

Ready, willing and able can be downloaded from www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-12248-fo.pdf