Thursday 12 July 2012

Making old people work?

Another program  on TV caught my attention last night. Pensioners were going back to work in Preston!  How many would make it through a full day?
We were told that in years to come old people would be forced into working well into their seventies...
This sets up all sorts of vibes with me,  not all good.
I retired from my proper job many years ago now and have taken up a new one in my old age...so on paper I should be delighted for people being allowed to work longer.....but I'm not. My new job is in answer to a call. No one has forced me into it.....I don't get paid but I love everything I do....there is  certainly a case to be made for allowing people to work if they are fit enough to do it.
I am fairly spry....but I try and get a nap every day after lunch....a whole day out at work has become very tiring and this is what many of last nights applicants were finding...
Some did really well and were asked to stay on for another week......some had clearly had enough.
The bottom line here though is that for some of them making money is the real need...they need to stretch their pensions to get the essentials of life paid for, leave alone the treats and the holidays.
A desperately unhappy picture was being presented....if there is no state pension until everyone is in their seventies there will be no choice.....they will have to work....
David and I are in the last generation of affluent pensioners I fear....we enjoy our old age....we can afford good holidays and meals out..We enjoy the work we both do.....but its absolutely our choice.....if the state was pushing us into work we would feel differently I'm sure.
The quote from "The Prophet" is one I've used frequently
"Work is love made visible" This only is true  if you are fit and happy to be working.
If you are still full of energy as we both are then work is a pleasure. But for some of those people in last nights programme  work could quickly become a burden...
It is an obscene thought that so many people in this welfare state will be made to work until they drop....
I realise its the price we are going to have to pay for digging ourselves out of this huge economic burden we are carrying but some redistribution of wealth should also be considered surely....
Sorry if that sounds idealistic and socialist too  but the sight of those old people struggling last night has brought me into a new era of waving the red flag!

4 comments:

UKViewer said...

I would have liked to be able to work until 65, but the Government decreed that age 60 was the mandatory retirement age for those in the Armed Forces. I got an immediate pension and will have to wait to 65 to pick up the state pension.

It's been three years now and while I miss the people, I don't miss the pressures of a full-time job, particularly in the Armed Forces, where I was on a contract that meant that I was paid 13% less that those Regular personnel doing the same job (this was a second career option).

My spouse is due to retire next year. We are looking forward it as we have plans to relocate to Canterbury, which we anticipate being our last move. I still hope that I will be able to train for some form of lay ministry in the next year or so, but I've had enough to do studying and working through the discernment process, which sadly came to nothing.

It's good being a house husband, and doing exactly what I want day to day, and I really can't see me ever working full time again. If something suitable, part-time came along, I would snap it up, but those roles are in short supply.

Revjeanrolt said...

Any parish would be very lucky to get you Earnie. But I'm glad you are enjoying being at home with no pressures. I will do less during the next years and filling my time is never going to be a problem.

Ray Barnes said...

I too watched the programme last night and again tonight.
The conclusion reached both by those taking part in the experiment and those 'employing' them for 2 weeks, was that while some (only a very few) over seventies were prepared to work, the majority found the experience too exhausting to contemplate in real life.
The youngsters, by contrast, who all claimed to want to work, were (again with few exceptions) totally lacking in the work ethic and unwilling to conform to their employers' expectations.
Employers and employees all agreed that the older workers were much slower though their attitude to work and rules of behaviour, time-keeping etc were far better.
I don't know what this proves but for myself, having worked for 43 years, and having been retired for 18 and a half years I would resist with all my strength any attempt to force me back into full-time employment.

Neil Fiorenza said...

I say, as long as a person is fit to work in all aspects of his being (physically, mentally, etc.), then he should be allowed to work. Else, it is by good judgment that the old should just be allowed to enjoy the remaining days of their lives and savor the free gifts of life: family, nature, and a worry-free environment. Old people can engage in activities that interest them, maybe a social activity or a worthwhile hobby. Whatever they choose to do, let them. They’ve earned the right to take the lighter side of life.