Background Data| Flexpertae

Flex

Shortening of flexible
- able to change and adapt to different circumstances

Expertae

Latin feminine plural for expert
- she who has experience.

Carers

90% of working carers

are aged 30 plus, with the peak age range for care givers being 45-64 when they are in the prime of their careers.

50% probability for the

average person of caring for someone by the age of 50, with half of women caring by the age of 46 compared to the age of 57 for men.

2.8m additional workers

took on caring duties in 2020. Family provided care was estimated to contribute £530m/day to the economy during the 2020 pandemic.

£135 billion saving

to the economy each year due to unpaid carers, while carers allowance is the lowest benefit. This saving is close to the cost of a second NHS.

600 people a day

give up work to care for loved ones and more than 2 million people each year reduce their working hours to give care.

£3.5 billion cost a year

to UK businesses from staff turnover, absence and stress from juggling work and caring unsupported leading to a loss of skills and knowledge.

People with Disabilities

20% of working age

population is disabled – 8.4m people aged 16-64 years old.

Twice as likely

to be unemployed as non-disabled people. More than 4.4m disabled people are in work.

Life costs £583 more

on average per month if you’re disabled. 24% of families with disabled children have extra costs of more than £1000 per month.

52.3% in employment <

in 2020 down from 54.1% in 2019. The employment rate for non disabled people was 81.1% in 2020.

Higher redundancy rate

The ONS figures for July-November 2020 were 21.1 per thousand disabled employees were made redundant compared to 13 per thousand for non disabled.

More likely to be part-time

In April 2018 to March 2019 34% of disabled people were working part-time compared to 23% of people who are not disabled.

Career Break

Family is one of many

reasons for career breaks. 1.8m women and 0.2m men are not in paid work due to looking after a relative - children, grandchildren, loved ones.

Different qualities

are likely to come from career breaks - for example higher levels of empathy, resourcefulness and blue-sky thinking.

Of 160 IT leaders

50% said working from home had increased employee productivity following the pandemic which enforced homeworking and flexibility.

76% of professional women

on career breaks want to return to work.

3 in 5 women returning

to work are likely to move into lower skilled/paid roles with earnings reduction thus businesses lose the benefits of their training, knowledge and experience.

17% of employees

have taken time out from their career due to stress or mental health pressures - 19% of women and 15% of men.

Older Workers

Age has diversity benefits

Older workers contribute business experience, are more autonomous, transfer vital knowledge and skills , have more connections and contribute towards more productive teams

Fewer younger workers

Between 2018 and 2025 there are forecast to be 0.3m fewer workers under 30 and 1m more workers over 50 in the UK.

3 time more women

aged 50-64 working part-time than men, whilst almost twice as many men are working full-time than women.

Semi-retirement desirable

In a 2022 Canadian survey the majority of employees said they would take semi-retirement, but most companies don't offer the option.

50% of workers

aged 50-69 say their job is excessively demanding. Age related health is the leading driver for them to be out of work.

Move to part-time

work is driven mainly by health issues or by the need to fit work around caring responsibilities - with the latter more prevalent among women

Data Sources

The data above is obtained data from a number of sources including Carers Week 2020 Research Report and Employers for Carers , ONS and Centre for Ageing Better.

According to a recent report by Timewise only 1 in 4 jobs advertised include flexible working, which means that people who need flexibility are unable to apply for 3 in 4 jobs. Yet with the lack of talent highlighted as a major concern for employers this should be an easily remedied situation.