Tina Chummun has applied for jobs every day for the past two years. Some 4,000 applications later, and the 50-year-old finds herself unemployed, thousands of pounds in debt to her mortgage lender, and facing the possibility of having to move in with her mother.
With relentless rejections in her inbox, she says frustration doesn’t even begin to describe the struggle, which has completely consumed her life.
Ms Chummun, who holds an undergraduate degree, two master’s qualifications in marketing and psychotherapy, and is in her third year of a health and social care doctorate, feels it is her age that is causing the rejections. She said the government must step in to help older people who, like her, are up against a job market they feel they no longer belong in.
After losing her job in April 2024, Ms Chummun has been in part-time work selling her counselling and marketing services, but has been unable to earn enough to cover her bills.
She hopes to work full-time in digital marketing, but has been applying for any role she can. In the last two years, she said she has only received one interview for a marketing job.
After she struggled to pay her bills, her mortgage lender eventually took her to court. “It’s just one nightmare after another,” Ms Chummun told The Independent.
“I love working, it gives me a sense of purpose and meaning, I don’t want to retire. It’s so frustrating and I’m trying everything… I want to get up and go to work. I don’t want to claim benefits. I can’t claim benefits because I’m self-employed, but I don’t want to.”
Her four-bedroom house in Kettering, Northamptonshire, is now up for sale, as she plans to move back to London and rent to improve her chances of finding work.
If she isn’t able to get a job after a year in London, she would have to “seriously think about” moving in with her mother, who is currently supporting her financially.
She is one of many people her age struggling to get work, with government figures showing around 876,000 50- to 64-year-olds would like to be in work but are not.
On Monday, the government unveiled a £1bn youth unemployment scheme, which aims to incentivise employers to hire young people.
Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden announced the new measures, which include offering businesses £3,000 to hire an 18- to 24-year-old who has been unemployed for six months or more.
Ms Chummun believes her chances of getting work are further hurt by employers wanting to hire young people who they can pay lower salaries to. After consistently hearing that she is overqualified or not suitable for roles, she would like to see similar efforts from the government to encourage older people back into the workforce.
She said digital marketing is a particularly difficult field to get work in for older people, as it is “quite a young industry, and also there are lots of stigmas and lots of stereotypes about older people not being digitally savvy”.
One charity is now calling on the government to find a similar level of investment to support workers in their fifties and sixties, and address a labour market in crisis at both ends of the scale.
According to the Centre for Ageing Better, just a 1 per cent increase in the number of 50- to 64-year-olds in work could grow the economy by more than £7bn.
Dr Andrea Barry, the charity’s deputy director for work, retirement and transitions, said: “Government interventions should build on what we have learned works to retain older workers and support older jobseekers back into the labour market.”
With nearly half of the population expected to be over 50 years old within 40 years, it is vital that the government invests in older workers, she said.
“We need the government to raise its own ambitions for older workers by targeting a significant increase in the employment rates of 50-plus workers to close the gap with other age groups,” Dr Barry added. “To do that, we need to see employment support services specifically tailored for people in their fifties and sixties, who often have the worst outcomes from these services compared to other age groups.
“The highest levels of poverty for any age group over 25 are among the 60- to 64-year-olds who are locked out of the ageist labour market and waiting for their pension.”
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “Our Get Britain Working reforms will boost employment for people of all ages by overhauling job centres and providing personalised work and skills support.
“We provide dedicated support to older workers by delivering midlife reviews to encourage people to evaluate their skills and help to break down barriers to employment, while our menopause employment ambassador is collaborating with employers to enhance workplace support for women experiencing menopause symptoms.”
