THE EARLIER THE BETTER - RAISING AWARENESS OF EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT FOR

First, low awareness, and low uptake, of the employment support which is currently available, as found in previous Demos reports and in other research published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Learning and Work Institute, the Centre for Ageing Better and others. [...] THERE ARE MORE DISABLED PEOPLE AND PEOPLE WITH HEALTH CONDITIONS WITHIN THE WORKING-AGE POPULATION - BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE WORKFORCE A number of trends, including the UK’s changing age structure and the negative impact of the pandemic on the population’s health, mean that there are more disabled people and people with health conditions within the working-age population than in the past. [...] Therefore the policy priorities for this group should be, first, providing support to both individuals and employers to prevent people having to leave their current job; second, providing support to individuals to move to a new job if necessary; and third, providing support to people as soon as possible after they have left work to help them to return. [...] Demos highlighted the lack of early support in our report The Platinum Pound which examined how to increase employment among people in their 50s and 60s.46 Providing support to people while they are still in employment in order to prevent them leaving the workforce is a type of preventative policy, a topic which Demos has explored in several recent reports.47,48 People out of work and not receivin. [...] Due to the fragmented nature of the employment and skills landscape, provider organisations currently have to dedicate both money and time to promote/market specific programmes to individuals, in order to make them aware of the support available.