Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many women born in the 1950s and affected by the change in the state pension age have successfully taken part in the returner's scheme to return to the workplace.

In the 2017 Budget, £5 million was allocated to increase the number of programmes for returners in the public and private sector. The Government Equalities Office is developing programmes to support people who want to return to the workplace. These have not yet been launched but will be open to all those who wish to return to paid work, having taken time out of the labour market for caring. This includes women born in the 1950s and affected by the change in the state pension age.

The number of older workers in employment is at a record high, this includes 1.2 million workers over the age of 65. This corresponds to an increase in the employment rate for individuals over the age of 65 from 6.7% to 10.3% over the past ten years. The Government is keen in supporting older people to return to the labour market and that is why we invested £1.6 million in nine pilots across England to explore ways to support carers to balance work and caring responsibilities. The final evaluation report is expected later this Summer.