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Pensions Bill

I agree with much of what has been said by the noble Lord, Lord Fowler. For those who may not have studied his work, Professor Sir Michael Marmot has done a huge amount of work on the socio-economic determinants of health and longevity. It is the case that huge differences are seen depending on the type of job someone has. Further, longevity is reflected in people’s status and the amount of autonomy they have in their work. We have a long way to go in this country because we do not retrain or reskill people after a certain age. Across Europe, if one talks about lifelong learning, it usually means up to the age of about 30 and not beyond. We have to change our attitudes if a lot of what we are talking about this evening is to mean lifelong work, and older people being retrained and in work. Regardless of the work they do, we can make changes in the workplace by giving people increased responsibilities and a higher status. Even a menial job can enjoy different levels of status so that people have the ambition to achieve. That makes such a difference to longevity and health and is something we need to pursue. I hope that, as a country, we can do this.