It’s 3am Saturday morning in London’s Clerkenwell district. Outside, hardened drinkers are falling out of bars, and clubbers are struggling to stand on pavements. Inside, a flame-haired rocket of energy is unravelling the wires of a sound system. Nikki Preddy has been working since 5pm. After 25 years as a stewardess for British Airways she is used to long nights – which is very handy for her new line of work. Having managed cabin crew on Concorde, Preddy now transforms the Crypt, a church hall, into a venue for a night of Argentine tango.
This recession is tough on older workers. Last year there was a 31.5% rise in the number of unemployed people over 50, compared with 21.6% of those under 50, according to the Office for National Statistics. If you are over the age of 50, there is a one in six chance you are out of work.
But there is another trend among older workers. The number of people in work of pensionable age has increased, by 86,000 – and women account for more than half of that figure. Whether it’s because they need to, or want to, people, and especially women, are choosing to work beyond retirement age. And that involves change.
Preddy, who took early retirement from British Airways is a stunning example. “When I first left BA I temped. I didn’t care what I did. You have to take chances and be open-minded about what you do. It didn’t occur to me that I wouldn’t carry on working just because I was over 50,” she says.
Having been to stage school as a child, she fell into training as a stand-in for her dance teachers. “I never imagined that my hobby would one day become my work,” says Preddy. “The opportunities presented themselves to me, which is how I came to set up Dance Tango. When you leave a big company like BA where you’re controlled and cosseted, it’s like leaving the army. Doors open.”
Part of Dance Tango’s success is down to Preddy’s willingness keep track of trends, whether it’s new technology or Tango Nuevo, the modern version of the dance favoured by twentysomethings. Is age ever an issue? “We know ageism exists but we can’t let that hold us back,” says Preddy, who shies away from disclosing her age.
Finding a new career later in life seems more likely to happen for people willing to take a risk on something new. When Soham-based counsellor/play therapist Heather Burkinshaw agreed to help out at a local youth club a decade ago, she had no idea it would be the catalyst to becoming a counsellor. It was just something to keep her occupied after she was made redundant at 51 from her job as project manager for a publishing company.
Burkinshaw ended up running the youth club, and doing a counselling skills course for working with young people. “After I was made redundant I was very focused on doing what I wanted. I wanted to find something I’d be able to do in my 60s.” Her qualifications now include a diploma with the British Association of Counsellors-Psychotherapists (BACP), and Play Therapy UK (PTU), and she is studying for an MA in therapeutic play.
Ann Diego, 62, had clocked up two careers as a lawyer and an academic when she trained to teach in her mid 50s. “I was going through an insane divorce and found myself homeless and penniless. I wasn’t getting anywhere with jobs and age was definitely an issue.”
Diego saw that the government was funding postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) courses and enrolled. It was, she says, a case of needs must. The PGCE qualification led to a job immediately in Plaistow, east London teaching English literature and English at A-level. A few months ago she left the job because of the excessive workload and to take time out to turn her PhD (on race as a political concept) into a book that she hopes to get published. As she has no pension, she will be looking for work again.
The hardest part of changing careers, says Diego, is dealing with the hierarchy rather than age per se. “What I found hard was being treated like someone who didn’t know anything and I was quite surprised with attitudes.”
While Diego points out that it’s dangerous to expect to replicate the success of a previous career, she doesn’t advocate just taking any job. “When you’re young you have your future and you know [a dead-end job] is temporary. But when you’re older you’re confronted with the fact that this is how people see you, this is who you are.” Diego’s advice is to get a new skill – or develop a passionate interest that represents your identity. “If I have to get a job like standing at the dry-cleaner’s, I know that’s not me.”