Phoenix Group: An Ageing Population and a Life of Learning

Across the global economy, a pattern is taking place – with humans living longer than before. While all of the underlying reasons are to be welcomed (not least the improvement of healthcare) this increase in longevity is also bringing profound consequences for the way in which we structure society.

As the UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement business, Phoenix Group has found how people haven’t changed their financial planning despite living longer. Last year, the group launched a new specialist think tank – Phoenix Insights – to explore the wider impact of this trend.

As part of this work, the think tank director, Catherine Foot, recently joined The Spectator’s business editor, Martin Vander Weyer, for a special podcast on this topic. We also welcomed two special guests: employment minister Guy Opperman MP and health expert Dame Carol Black.

‘One big consequence with living longer is that it increases the risk that we might end up living longer than our money – and outliving our physical health,’ said Catherine Foot, summarising the issue. ‘We’ve set up Phoenix Insights to find solutions to those issues – whether those ideas are for policy-makers, employers or us as individuals.’

As she explained to Martin Vander Weyer, Phoenix Insights wasn’t just focused on ways to help older workers stay in the workplace for longer, but instead to ensure they were able to deliver as much value as possible – with research indicating that multigenerational workforces were often the most effective.

It was certainly opportune timing. In his November financial statement, the Chancellor pledged a major review of the UK’s workforce gap – seeking to reduce economic inactivity. Research has found that a disproportionate number of those neither in work or seeking work are older workers.

For Dame Carol Black, who previously led a report into work and wellbeing for the coalition government, the key was improving health. ‘In order to go to work, you need to have a certain level of health,’ she said. ‘But we know that people aren’t necessarily accruing the health assets they need to help them stay fit into older age.’

While some government initiatives were helpful (like the Mid-Life MOT – a free scheme to help people in their forties, fifties and sixties take account of their work, wealth and wellbeing), the health problem was now being exacerbated by other issues – like the rising NHS waiting list and the lingering impact of the pandemic.

Other trends were more helpful for older workers, such as the enduring shift towards flexible working – which was helping workers balance work with other life commitments. Indeed Catherine Foot spoke about how Phoenix Group had created new hybrid customer service roles in order to help retain older workers.

For Guy Opperman MP – a former pensions minister who had returned to government with the challenge of closing the jobs gap – it was a perfect example of the kind of innovative step employers should be taking.

‘From a business standpoint, the idea that you can afford to just ignore older workers is a non-starter – particularly with one million vacancies,’ he said. But was the UK doing enough to capitalise on that situation?

‘We definitely have a lot of things in our favour,’ said Catherine Foot. ‘But we’re still a long way from being a country that really invests in adult education and reskilling.’ In an economy where skills demand was constantly shifting, it risked creating a bigger problem in future.

Given the UK’s current growth conundrum, it was an issue that Westminster could not afford to ignore. ‘Investment in our human capital is still the best way to achieve economic growth – and I think it’s something we need to get much better at,’ concluded Carol Black.