I still enjoy working and had not thought about retiring and what that could mean, until just recently. My husband took early retirement three years ago without a backward glance, or any real thought as to how he would fill his time once he was no longer at the beck and call of the alarm clock! During the past year the discussions (arguments really) as to when I think I will retire have increased; although I am not ready to give up my job just yet, I have been giving it some thought.
According to many reports in the press, there are more people over sixty now than ever before and coupled with this is the recognised fall in the birth rate – think about the reports from China where the burden on the work force of looking after elderly relatives appears to be a real problem. So if all the babyboomers, of which I am one, who were born in the years immediately after the end of World War Two and are now coming up to the usual age for retirement actually do so, there is going to be a big hole in the workforce.
We are better educated than our parents and certainly live a more healthy lifestyle in most cases, which is borne out by the fact that we are living a lot longer, so what are we all going to do with our time? What happens to all the experience we have accquired during our working lives? Why should be have to retire at a set time? Why can’t we ease into retirement in a more gradual way if we wanted to by say, cutting down the number of days we work, then the hours etc etc. There are not enough of the younger generation coming along to take our place as the days of couples have lots of children have long gone. Perhaps it is time governments took a look at the present legislation and woke up to the fact that unless they alter the retirement age there are going to be huge problems for the economy in the very near future. Some companies have already realised the advantages of bringing older people back into the workforce and this seems to bring benefits to both sides, perhaps others will start to follow this lead. As for me, well, the jury is still out………….