The measures being announced today by Alastair Darling, Secretary of State for Social Security to attempt to combat the growing number of over-50's out of work will include plans for over-60's to be required to actively seek employment. Help will be offered to job-seekers in the form of careers advice and information on volunteering.

The other recommendations from the report, entitled 'Winning the Generation Game', will include raising the age at which pensions can be paid from 50 to 55 and the introduction of legislation against age discrimination, to back up the current voluntary code of practice.

The shift in attitude towards older workers which the government is calling for is driven in the main by attempts to make savings, but The Employers Forum on Age has been lobbying government for three years to push for measures favouring a mixed-age workforce, and has produced a great deal of research into the subject.