As our population ages, now is the time to address the length and pace of our working lives and start recognising the often hidden contribution of carers and volunteers.
This calls for a new mindset around how work fits with our lives—a change that should start at the top. I propose we abolish the Department for Work and Pensions, establishing in its stead a Department for Citizen Contribution: the DfCC.
Changes to the machinery of government don’t often excite, but this would be a first step in acknowledging that many of us give valuable labour across our lives to our families and communities, not just our workplaces.
Individuals will be able to contribute more fully across their lives, whether through creativity, productive labour or by providing support and care for others
And this isn’t just a case of changing nameplates on a building. This new ministry will be charged with seamlessly linking the different phases of activity—education, leisure and employment—in a flexible journey across the course of a lifetime.
Top of the list of priorities for this new department would be testing the creation of a Citizen Living Wage, to embed the link between civic contribution and state support; a principle the current system does little to signal. This could unify the existing patchwork of support for caring and provide volunteers, alongside carers, with National Insurance credits. The upper reaches of this ambition would see a full living wage for those engaged in these vital civic activities.
The living wage would also support retraining over the course of an individual’s life. No longer confined to a rigid work-life framework, individuals could mix paid labour with caring and volunteering responsibilities as desired or necessary, and develop new career opportunities too.
Such flexibility would also harness the wealth of experience and expertise of the increasingly large number of older adults. Individuals will be able to contribute more fully across their lives, whether through creativity, productive labour or by providing support and care for others. This is a big step towards an age-integrated society, where all contributions are recognised, respected and rewarded.
This article first appeared in Minister for the future, a special report produced in association with Nesta.
