Our thanks to Douglas for an email, which takes up the remainder of this blog piece:

Our wonderfully biased government ‘equalities’ committee has decried the way that older people are discriminated against in the employment market – here.

However, as we might expect of an ‘equalities’ committee that is structurally submissive to the Minister for Women, there is still not a word about the notable sex gap in unemployment. Men remain the majority of unemployed, as they have for many years now.

Male unemployment has risen by 31,000 in the period May to August. Female unemployment fell by 50,000 in the same period.

(Source: Table A02: Labour Force Survey Summary: People by economic activity for those aged 16 and over and those aged from 16 to 64 (not seasonally adjusted), available Table A02: Labour Force Survey Summary: People by economic activity for those aged 16 and over and those aged from 16 to 64 (not seasonally adjusted), available here.)

Yet the Women and Equalities Committee, in a report dated 17 October 2018, happily reports that the “The labour market remains strong and resilient.” Well, yes, it does for women, doesn’t it?

The Office for National Statistics no longer publishes statistics broken down by age group (though such can be requested of them) so the figures of unemployed older men compared to unemployed older women are not immediately clear. However, data revealed in 2016 showed that unemployed men aged 31-64 numbered 901,397 while the same for women was 765,396. The same data also revealed that men are typically unemployed for longer. (Source here.)

Well, at least the committee is not just concerning itself with women. It’s a pity that they won’t care about men. The United Kingdom needs a Men’s Minister (or three, to match the three Women’s Ministers).

Media reports:

The Independent.

The Scotsman.

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