One in four Rugby jobseekers is aged over 50

International Longevity Centre UK, a think tank, says older unemployed people are hampered by age discrimination and a lack of flexibility from employers.

In January, 1,330 people were out of work in Rugby, of whom 355 were aged 50 or over.

The data only includes people without a job who are claiming benefits linked to unemployment, either Job Seeker’s Allowance or Universal Credit.

The bulk of unemployed people in the area were aged among 25 and 49 years old - 780 in total. Just 195 were between 16 and 24 years old.

Dr Brian Beach, a senior research fellow at ILC-UK, which specialises in researching the impact of longevity on society, said few older people benefit from effective support in their job search.

He said: “The key barriers older people face are ageist attitudes and a lack of flexibility in working arrangements.

“Tackling age discrimination must be the number one priority if we are to enable more people who want to work to find jobs in later life.”

Across the UK, 27% of unemployed benefit claimants were aged 50 or older in January 2019 - 270,000 people.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “Experienced workers are a huge asset to the workforce and there are now 10.4 million over 50-s in employment – a record number.

“Through the National Careers Service and personal work coach support at their local Jobcentre Plus, we are supporting older people to get the work they want regardless of their age.

“In addition, our Fuller Working Lives strategy is encouraging employers to recruit, re-train and retain older workers”.

In Rugby, the number of people claiming out-of-work benefits stayed the same by 2% in the year to January 2019, compared with a national increase of 23%.