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Friday, July 27, 2012

United Kingdom: Official Endorses Mid-life Career Planning To Help Working Longer

During a parliamentary debate, John Hayes, UK Minister for Skills, endorsed proposals made by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) for a mid-life career review. "NIACE has been exploring with the Departments of Business, Innovation and Skills; Work and Pensions and Health whether such a review might encourage people to stay longer and more productively in work, and ensure that they retire in circumstances and ways which make them healthy and independent in retirement." Hayes said:
"...I wanted to accept NIACE's proposal of a mid-life learning health check so that we could look at people at the age of 40 and 50 perhaps and use the national careers service to gauge when and where they could study to upskill or reskill. That there is a need for that has been argued in the sector for some time, and we have taken it on board...".
According to NIACE, the idea of the proposal is to encourage and support people to review the learning and skills they need to successfully manage the second half of their lives. "[T]here is a need for adults to review their career aspirations, training, health, finances and retirement plans before age-discrimination and ill health begin to limit choices."

NIACE also points to "Next steps: Life transitions and retirement in the 21st century," a report prepared by Lord Wei and written by Dr. Alison Hulme for the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, as support for this approach.

Source: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education News Archive (July 18, 2012)

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