Mature opportunities test?

 Steve Webb in last Friday's i newspaper objected to Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride's "get on a bike" message to the over-50s. 

the sorts of jobs that Mr Stride is talking about are often tough, insecure and relatively lowly paid. We must avoid a situation where these jobs - which are likely to be unsuitable for many - are all that is available. One particular concern about these "gig economy" jobs is that many of them fall the wrong side of the employed/self-employed divide. As a result, those who take them may miss out on vital employment rights such as workplace pensions or sick pay.

There was another part of the Stride briefing that Steve Webb believed had merit, a "mid-life MOT".

The idea is that just as we get our cars checked periodically, we should also review our career plans and financial plans from time to time - preferably when there is still enough time to change things. 

The mid-life MOT is, in my view, a good initiative in that it encourages us all to recognise that the job we do now may not be the job we always do and plan ahead. Similarly, the mid-life MOT can give us a chance to review our finances and look at what we can expect to have in retirement from a combination of state and private pensions. For many of us this would be a wake-up call to encourage us to set more aside (if we are able) for our retirement.

However, we need to avoid a situation where the only outcome of such a review is to be forced to take up potentially unsuitable jobs because they are all that is available.

If we are serious about harnessing the skills of the over-50s, we need to make sure they have the opportunity to retrain and find fulfilling second and third careers rather than be forced to take the only jobs that are available.