Recommendation 7

HM Government Acknowledged

This government is clear on the importance of protections against age discrimination. The Equality Act 2010 contains strong protections for older people in a variety of settings, including work and the provision of services. As an independent Non-Departmental Public Body, it is for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to decide on the allocation of its resources within its funding envelope. On 26 March 2025, the EHRC published its Strategic Plan for 2025- 2028 which sets out how the Commission will prioritise their work, promote and protect equality and human rights and respond to new challenges over the next three years. Under Pillar 1 of the plan they will seek to ‘Improve compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) [and] will undertake a programme of monitoring and engagement to increase compliance’. Compliance with PSED requires those subject to the duty to recognise and take account of all protected characteristics, including age. The Equality Advisory and Support Service is a government commissioned and funded helpline that provides free advice and support to individuals in England, Scotland, and Wales on issues relating to equality and human rights. In 2022 age related cases accounted for 3.15% of the total of over 48,000 contacts to the service. In 2023, age related cases represented 3.39% of the total of over 60,000 contacts to the service and in 2024, this remained broadly the same with age related cases representing 3.02% of the total of over 50,000 contacts to the service. We are committed to strengthening protections against discrimination by bringing the combined discrimination provision at section 14 of the Equality Act 2010 into force. People hold multiple protected characteristics and it is clear that some people experience discrimination due to a combination of these, in some cases including age. For example, some women experiencing the menopause may be treated less favourably by an employer or service provider because of a particular combination of protected characteristics, such as age, disability and sex. We are engaging with the EHRC and other stakeholders as we explore how best to commence the combined discrimination provision to address this long-standing gap in the law. Another example of work the government is currently undertaking to support older people in a variety of different ways include supporting older women in work. Women aged 50 and over are one of the fastest growing labour market cohorts:1 In the 12 months up to November 2024, the rate of economic activity amongst females aged 65+ increased by 8% which is more than any other age group for females and males.2 Economic activity amongst females aged 65+ more than doubled between 2004 and 2024, from 3.9% to 9.3% (an increase of 136%). This is greater than the increase in economic activity amongst males of the same age (increasing by 76% from 8.7% in 2004 to 15.3% in 2024). For those older women in work, we are taking the first steps towards legally requiring large employers to publish action plans alongside their gender pay gap figures; detailing the steps they are taking to narrow their gap and support employees during the menopause. The government has also committed to publishing guidance, including for small employers, on measures to support employees going through the menopause, including consideration relating to uniform and temperature, flexible working and recording menopause-related leave and absence. We are also improving flexible working, parental leave and childcare policies to provide more flexible options for families across generations. Alongside this, a public consultation on disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting was launched on 18 March 2025. This will also help us further understand the impact on older people with other protected characteristics. More widely, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has appointed a Menopause Employment Ambassador, journalist and broadcaster Mariella Frostrup, who will work closely with employers across the country to improve workplace support for women experiencing menopause and wider women’s health issues. The government’s work on menopause and closing the gender pay gap now, will also benefit future cohorts of older women by preventing women dropping out of the workforce, impacting their pension and aiming to reduce future pension poverty. The Gender Pensions Gap was measured at 1 ONS, A05 SA: Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity by age group (seasonally adjusted) (2025) 2 It should be noted that smaller sample sizes of individuals aged 65+ will impact the rate of change. 7 35% between 2018–2020 in June 2023, for those aged 55–59. For women of future pensionable age, labour market interventions and auto-enrolment into workplace pensions should help create the conditions for retirement saving, building on the foundation of the new State Pension. Automatic Enrolment has already helped millions more women to save into a pension, with