My nine-year-old was told at school that anyone over 64 was elderly. This has given him lasting and repetitive pleasure in teasing his father. And it's another reminder that I am a year off my three score and ten.
There's a more immediate problem. I have a great need to be employed. My half of the school fees – which now include a VAT windfall to HMRC of several thousand pounds – needs paying, come rain or shine.
Having had a taste of full-on work as a barrister, I don't want to return to the bar. I would rather be a paralegal than a barrister. More time and less stress.
I have worked as both barrister and paralegal and am well-qualified for either. Yet, despite this, the doors to most employment have remained bolted shut. Advertisements appear regularly with requirements that are a perfect fit. An application is made – then silence for ever after.
There has been the occasional opening. I found work on a public inquiry for two years. I then looked at the same job on the Covid Inquiry but was refused, for not having a 2:1 degree. I have an MA in corporate and commercial law from King's College London – but no 2:1 as a first degree. Clang! The particular bolt on that door was grade inflation.
A degree today is not what it was. The playing field is skewed towards the young. Demonstrably, there has been a shift in grades since I was first at university more than 40 years ago. Universities keen to attract students are in silent competition to offer the much-needed upper degrees.
The loss of student grant and advent of loans meant that students, their pockets full of borrowed money and their heads full of optimism, have very real power. It is hardly surprising that 30 to 35 per cent of undergraduates are now given first-class degrees when, 40 years ago, a mere 7 per cent earned such an honour. Today, only the lowest 20 per cent get a 2:2 or below, whereas roughly half of those who took degrees in 1990 were in that zone.
Since the inquiry, I have made well over a thousand applications for work that has resulted in two interviews and three weeks of employment.
There are substantial obstacles for oldies in search of work. Few employers are even concerned enough to hide the prejudice. On 2024 figures, 20 per cent of the population is over 64. Yet the statistics on employment lump everyone over this age into a single bloc. Younger groups are divided into increments of five years.
Another big clue is to read the equality reports of large companies. Lots fail even to consider how many older people are in their organisations and some don't even mention age, despite it being a protected characteristic under the law.
Application forms also present unique problems to older people.
The requirement to document our lives is massively more onerous than for someone fresh out of university. Many firms have dropdown lists that don't even list qualifications or institutions that are long gone.
What takes a few minutes for a school-leaver takes hours for a 60-year-old.
Some solicitors now employ a form of equalisation software that asks you searching questions as to where you were when you were studying. The dropdown options don't go back as far as the dates you were educated.
The greatest barrier is undoubtedly the interviewers. Those offering the jobs may be in their late 20s or early 30s. I am nearly 70. I recall what people in their late sixties looked like when I was 30. Very old.
So the interviewers doubt whether the candidate could cope. They fear the candidate may actually know more than they do. The person might not fit in with a younger workforce. Far better to find someone a bit younger who will do what they are told, is unlikely to challenge their decisions and will be far more likely to get on with others at the same level.
Many of these barriers can be removed at little or no cost. The government should officially recognise grade inflation. Employers should give reasons for rejection, and make forms age-friendly, and companies of a certain size should be required to publish detailed demographic information.
Give us oldies a fighting chance!
