Contrasting lives reveal a gulf beneath 'non-employed' jargon: Nearly 40 per cent of men aged from 55 to 64 are 'not working'. Barrie Clement looks at the reasons

ALEC McBEAN and Guy Lomax inhabit different worlds. Mr McBean retired at the age of 60 after 40 years in the Civil Service, and three years into a happy and highly active retirement has no desire to seek a full-time job. Mr Lomax, 59, was made redundant from his job as a company secretary four years ago. Now he is living on income support and housing benefit and is desperate for work.

Mr McBean and Mr Lomax are two of nearly 40 per cent of men aged 55 to 64 who are 'non-employed' as the demographer's jargon has it. Mr McBean is deemed to be 'inactive' because he has no intention of returning to the labour market, while Mr Lomax is 'unemployed' because he is looking for a job.

A third category, which has grown considerably during the recession, is made up of those who are 'inactive' because they have given up the search for work.

All are part of the 'non-employed', as defined by Employment Outlook, published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The number of men aged 55 to 64 who are out of work and seeking employment showed a clear rise during the 1980s, according to the report. The UK figure shows an increase of 1.9 per cent between 1980 and 1989.

It has shown a much steeper rise during the recession as firms shed older workers first. Department of Employment statistics show that there were 53,700 men aged 60 and over unemployed and 'actively seeking work' in April 1992 - a 47 per cent increase on the same month three years ago.

The fact that Mr Lomax, with a long career running firms, has been searching for work for four years is as much to do with 'ageism' as the recession.

'It's hard enough looking for work when you're 59 years old, but I was involved in a car crash so I have to use a crutch as well,' Mr Lomax said. He is trying to set up a non-profitmaking organisation to help people turn hobbies and interests into businesses. This was an idea which stemmed from the Department of Employment's executive job club, where he met other out-of-work professionals.

A former Winchester public schoolboy and Army officer, Mr Lomax is beginning to believe that people of his age are never going to be offered conventional employment.

'If I can't get a job, I will have to create one. These days that seems to be the only hope for the long-term unemployed and the elderly.'

Analysis shows that unlike Mr Lomax, many of the men made redundant will eventually accept their lot and disappear from the unemployment statistics. Others have left the labour market because they have taken advantage of the increasing number of schemes offering early retirement. These two categories make up the 'inactive' element of the population, which in the 55 to 64 age group rose by more than 14 per cent between 1980 and 1989. There is little doubt that there are a growing number of schemes, like the Civil Service arrangement which enabled Mr McBean to retire from Customs and Excise at 60.

The statistical term 'inactive' which applies to men like Mr McBean can be something of a misnomer. Apart from an active interest in Labour Party politics, he has involved himself in a church housing association near his home in Gravesend, Kent.

He is also a school governor and a student at the Open University reading for a degree in social science. His contribution to society through these and other activities is unpaid, but clearly of value.

Whatever the motives or predicament of those not working full-time, however, there is considerable doubt if the upward trend will continue.

Demographers point to a declining birth rate and a consequently ageing population. Given that the economy will eventually climb out of recession, in the late 1990s men like the Lomaxes and the McBeans may well be needed in full-time employment.

Employment Outlook; OECD Publications, 2 rue Andre-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France.

(Photographs omitted)