A combination of increased lifespan, the Age Pension being gradually raised to 70 and the financial benefits of working in retirement all mean that we are seeing lots of people in their 50s & 60s looking for full or part time work. This trend is set to grow as the government encourages us to work longer and more baby boomers reach their traditional retirement age.
With the exception of people with poor health or in jobs requiring heavy manual labour, the push to keep working past the traditional retirement age is not such a bad thing. The age of 65 was set in the early 1900s when most people died in their mid-60s so that governments didn’t expect to have to spend much on Age Pensions.
As it’s now common for people to be healthy and active in their 50s, 60s and 70s it’s not unreasonable for us to work longer. In fact there are both financial and emotional benefits in working past the traditional retirement age, if we can avoid stressful or heavy manual work. The fact is that relatively few people can fund a retirement of 20 – 30 years and some additional full or part time work will enable them to enjoy a more comfortable lifestyle.
Equally as important is the fact that spending some time working keeps us mentally challenged, feeling more useful, involved with life and the community and meeting new people.
The issue that isn’t getting much mention in this longer working life debate is that age discrimination is still widespread in our community.
The idea that people over 50 were “past it” and couldn’t handle modern technology is still alive and well in the workforce. There are thousands of stories about people who have lost their jobs in their 50s or 60s and who have struggled to find work again because of their age.
So if the government really wants to see us working in our 60s and even 70s, it needs to face the fact that age discrimination is still widespread in the workplace and then decide to do something about it.
Paul McKeon