Yes won decisively, but the room was not voting to ration support between generations. It was voting against a system that expects people to work longer while allowing age to become a barrier to getting back in.
The floor’s highest-respected Yes case cast the issue as equal treatment: “Ageism is an ‘ism’ that applies to everyone, eventually.” Another argued that “expecting people to work longer while denying them equal back to work support is completely unjust”, tying the demand to rising pension ages, lost jobs and the value of experience.
The No side did not deny that older workers can struggle, but kept returning to the consequences of youth unemployment. Its strongest argument warned that “Youth unemployment has a long-term scarring effect on their wages”, while another challenged the premise itself: “This is predicated on the assumption that the current youth support works / it doesn’t.”
That left the two sides talking past each other. Yes voters treated the question as a test of parity, while No voters worried about whether existing schemes work and whether younger people need the scarce investment most; one practical No voice said younger workers need training, while older workers may need “legal backup to keep a job that they already have.”
The specific finding is that equal support did not mean identical support: the winning argument was for a broader safety net, tailored to different obstacles rather than allocated by age alone.
19 Opinions
Younger workers need more funding to get experience and training. Older workers are more likely to need legal backup to keep a job that they already have. Perhaps improve the Access to Work scheme for people at any age who might lose their job because of failing health.
This is predicated on the assumption that the current youth support works / it doesn’t. So let’s no waste another £2.5 Billion on additional Civil Service fraud. Liberalise the economy remove bureaucracy & impediments to employment and unemployment will fall - oh and remove 5 Million migrants who do sweet FA.
YES But not necessarily in the same way as the youth. Possibly a tax break as an incentive to go to work rather than not bother. Eg..Me! I'm fully paid up on my NI contributions & if I still worked, cannot improve my pension payout. So I gave up work at 62 took my personal pension & I pay tax on it. Did a bit of part time (my industry is short of 15 to 20,000 qualified operatives) but quickly realised as that was classed as a 2nd job I payed 30% tax so I stopped working!
It's not an either/ or - it's both. 50+s are often suddenly flung on the scrapheap without warning, with health conditions and financial millstones.
The pension age keeps increasing, signalling that the Government expects people to be working longer, so why wouldn't support be necessary for people who are older? You can lose your job at any age, for a wide variety of reasons - BUT - it's been the case for a long time now, regardless what the Government thinks - that as you pass 50, it's increasingly harder to be employed over someone younger - and cheaper.
Yes, however the type of support, I imagine would have to be very different for those different age groups.
By leaning the focus from the youth to 50+ you will weight which side has more industrial experience. When the 50+ people retire, you suddenly have an uneducated younger taskforce.
50 years plus and you haven't learnt anything?? Can you drive ,deliver. Can you walk, postman can you use computer, admin. I think younger people should get all the help they need to get off benefits. They are paying 50 plus year olds pension, for now!
For reasons of equality, of course they should. Older people have as many problems in finding work. Amongst the issues older workers face, often the wrong experience is just as much a barrier to finding work as no experience.
Ageism is an ‘ism’ that applies to everyone, eventually. If the retirement age rises, it makes sense for current and future governments to ensure that everyone willing and able can work should be able to do so - full-time, part-time or project-based. Having people of all ages and generations contributing to society will enrich it.