Well, if you ask me, I am not going to retire and I haven't hit 40 yet. The idea of retiring is anathema to me. I want to to the great computer in the sky kicking and screaming, burning and gasping for breath, not rusting out in a bloody old age home somewhere having apple mush spooned into me by a battleaxe of a harridan (j/k!!)! So personally speaking, the fact that the age discrimination laws have been passed makes it good news for me. I will work till I can work, not because of some odd sod arbitrary age.
But, we are now getting trained on age discrimination laws. For example, I cannot have a cv which has any dates in it. I cannot ask people for information which can give any kind of indication about their age. I cannot ask people to compulsorily retire, and so on and so forth.
Since the age discrimination laws came into being on both sides of the Atlantic, there have been severe issues and they are now starting to raise their heads. If I remember correctly, there have been a sharp rise in age discrimination lawsuits here in the UK.
But if elders stick on to the jobs, then what about the jobs for the youngsters? How about the fact that current "pay as you go" pension systems are not designed to handle people working past 65 (odd) years! You have been trained and educated and lived in a culture which thinks that old people should be firmly in bed or at home, worrying about your roses or playing with your grandkids, dealing with incontinence or liver spots.
But see this column from the FT. There are cultural changes required:
The first American baby boomer registered for her government pension earlier this month, and there are 76m more where she came from. Corporate America is terrified that the postwar birth boom could fuel a 21st century lawsuit explosion, as more and more geriatrics cling to jobs they can no longer perform – and then sue the boss that fires them.
Birthdays, it seems, are particularly dangerous territory: the guide includes a “sample birthday celebrations policy” that warns “careful attention should be made to the tone of and content of the celebrations to be respectful of . . . employees of all ages”. The policy sternly notes that “‘over-the-hill’, ‘it’s all downhill from here’, ‘next stop – the grave’, etc themes should be avoided”, and that “supervisors should be careful to avoid discussions of employees’ ages at these celebrations”. And by all means, managers must not talk about “work and/or career plans in relation to a particular birthday”. They must stick to “the usual small-talk topics” – though it is hard to imagine what those might be, if one cannot mention the grandkids or the golf game.
and this kicker!
The statistics are enough to give a thirty-something human resources manager premature arrhythmia: recent studies suggest that nearly three-quarters of American workers intend to work past retirement age – and 12 per cent say they will never retire.
People of my generation seem to have got it bad. We have to pay for the elder's pensions and healthcare. We have to pay for the welfare state. We have to pay for our own healthcare and mortgages without tax relief. No marriage tax relief either. We also have to pay for our children's schooling, college and university education. We will also have to help them get on the property ladder and possibly get them married off as well.
As for my son's generation, well, it will be scary for him. Today he went out on his first Halloween's mixed party. I suppose he can get scared about finances later on. Happy Halloween, Folks!
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