Millions of over-50s face a financial ‘double-whammy’ unless the government does more to help them through the recession, a new report claims.

Older workers are increasingly afraid of losing their jobs at a time when their retirement savings are being ravaged by the economic downturn, according to Age Concern and Help the Aged, which recently merged.

Its research found that more than a quarter of workers over the age of 50 feared being forced out of their jobs because of their age if their employer cut staff numbers.  The number of unemployed people aged 50 or over has already risen by 47% in the past year, government figures show, and the charity warned that older workers made redundant faced being out of work permanently.

The result for many pensioners would be a long retirement on an income ravaged by the recession, according to the charity.  It found nearly half of workers over 50 were less confident than 6 months ago that their savings and investments would be sufficient to provide them with a decent standard of living in retirement.  Consequently, 6 out of 10 over-50s believed they would have to work for longer than they had originally intended to.

Michelle Mitchell, charity director for Age Concern and Help the Aged, said the figures painted a bleak picture for over-50s in jobs threatened by the downturn. 

“Those who lose their jobs will face significant obstacles to getting back into work, leaving them financially vulnerable as they approach retirement” said Mitchell.  “For many over-50s, one of the lasting legacies of this recession will be a retirement blighted by poverty”.

The charity called on the government to scrap the default retirement age of 65, which it described as “senseless”, so workers could continue for as long as they wanted or needed to and were capable of doing a good job.

It also said employers should be incentivised to take on over-50s who had been out of work for 6 months and called for a tailored package of support for unemployed over-50s, including training for Jobcentre plus staff to help them recognize the specific needs of older job seekers.

But a spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) told the Scotsman it was already encouraging employers to adopt flexible approaches to work and retirement through its Age Positive campaign.

“We have taken steps to strengthen and protect the private pensions system to ensure people have confidence in pensions”, the DWP claimed.

This article first appeared in the Scotsman on 26th May 2009