A new online Midlife MOT has been launched to help older workers with financial planning, health guidance, and to assess what their skills mean for their careers and futures.
The free Midlife MOT website encourages people to review their skills and help to break down barriers to the labour market, in turn delivering on the Government’s priority to grow the economy. It brings together trusted services, help such as a jobseeker toolkit and charity resources. It will allow people to identify job opportunities across the UK as well as better preparing them for later life and their retirement.
The website signposts to key organisations and charities, including the NHS, Mind, MoneyHelper, Citizens Advice and the Department for Work and Pension’s (DWP) find a job portal.
As part of this, MoneyHelper has created a financial tool which will provide a personalised report to help people understand what to prioritise to improve their financial position, from now through to retirement.
The Midlife MOT was originally launched in Jobcentres across England with work coaches working with claimants to encourage planning for later life and boosting their confidence. Following the initial success, the Government has looked at ways of reaching more people with the service and making it accessible for everyone – right across the UK.
Helen from Bolton is someone who has recently benefitted from the Government’s Midlife MOT offer. She wanted a new challenge and recently found a job as a cleaner in a primary school after having received tailored support from her local Jobcentre.
This included taking part in a Midlife MOT session where Helen, who is in her sixties, improved her confidence levels by conducting a stocktake of her skills and understanding how valuable she would be to an employer. Her story shows that people are never too old to retrain and develop new skills.
Further Information
- The enhanced digital Midlife MOT is part of the enhanced package of support for older workers which was announced in the 2022 Spending Review.
- The Department for Work and Pensions is also spending around £4 million to help those in work in their 40s and 50s benefit from the Midlife MOT offer. This consists of three private sector pilots currently running in Devon and Cornwall, the North East and in East Anglia with private suppliers.
DWP launches new Midlife MOT website – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
