Scotland's ageing population can be an opportunity to country's future budget

Following news that a Holyrood committee has noted the ageing population poses a “real risk” to the country’s future budget, the national charity for older people says that this could provide an opportunity for older people to inject more into the economy.

From 2018 onwards, Scotland’s economy is expected to grow more slowly than the rest of the UK as the number of people aged 16-64 starts to shrink and those over-75 increase.

Brian Sloan, Age Scotland’s Chief Executive said:

“While Scotland’s rising ageing population does create challenges for us to meet in terms properly funding health and social care and creating more age-friendly infrastructure, it also provides us with an opportunity to boost the Scottish economy.

“We know that more than half of Scotland’s pensioners are choosing to work rather than retire. Older people bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to Scottish businesses and can provide growth and training opportunities to other employees.

“Despite older people’s desires to stay in work past the traditional pension age, we know many older people face age discrimination both in their workplace and when applying for jobs – with some people in their 50s erasing ten years’ experience off their CV in order to be considered for interview.

“There are around a million people between 50 to 64 who are out of work in the whole of the UK, which could add £88 billion to the UK economy if they were employed. This is a missed opportunity to grow our Scottish economy.

“We encourage more companies to prepare for the future by implementing a workplace age inclusive strategy, which better supports older workers and the wider company.

“At best, only one in five businesses in Scotland have an age strategy in place. This needs to change. If Scotland is going to get fit for the future, we need to make sure older workers are supported.

“Age Scotland has already helped more than 190 Scottish businesses and 3,500 employees to create more age inclusive workplaces. We can help employers harness the opportunities in an ageing workforce to improve their business and boost the economy.”