What Policy Interventions Are Needed to Reduce Economic Inactivity for People with Poor Health and Older People
Amy Ramsay
On 6th November, IPPO hosted a launch event for our latest rapid evidence review. Chaired by IPPO’s Jo Chataway, Co-Investigator and Thematic Director for Socio-Economic Inequalities and Covid-19 Recovery, attendees heard from four speakers who discussed policy interventions to reduce economic inactivity for people with poor health and older people.
The first speaker was Senior Research Fellow Carol Vigurs from the EPPI centre, who worked on the IPPO-commissioned rapid evidence review. Carol summarised the review process, sharing its key findings, which you can find summarised here.
Launch event attendees heard from Sarah Arnold, Senior Policy Lead at The King’s Fund, who provided political context to policymaking around economic inactivity and health, drawing on the recently announced Budget.
Sarah spoke about reducing economic inactivity and increasing economic growth as key missions for the new Government, and how ministers’ rhetoric may not match what is needed to create impactful, evidence-based change.
Our third speaker was Emily Andrews, Deputy Director for Work at the Centre for Ageing Better, who focused on the Importance of reducing economic inactivity among older people if the Government is to meet its economic growth mission.
Emily advocated for more research, age-specific employment support programmes, and a push for attitudinal changes, both in terms of discrimination and a shift in thinking by the Government about what longer working lives should look like.
Presentations were followed by a Q&A in which panel members answered attendees’ questions covering topics such as ways employers might be encouraged to support older employees, including those who identify as neurodivergent or with chronic health conditions. Panellists also responded to questions about how work is viewed culturally within the UK and how attitudinal changes may affect levels of economic inactivity. Speakers also answered questions about the role of Government in applying an evidence-based approach to policymaking, with speakers stressing the importance of Government departments working across departments to address economic inactivity among older workers and people with poor health and disability.
If you would like to learn more about IPPO’s work on economic inactivity among older people and people with poor health, you can access the following resources:
- IPPO commissioned Economic Inactivity Rapid Evidence Review and Summary.
- International Economic Inactivity Case Study One: How a Universal Basic Income for People Over 65 Increased New Zealand’s Labour Force Participation
- International Economic Inactivity Case Study Two: Factors Contributing to the “Discouraged Worker” (Desalento) Phenomenon In Brazil