revert the pension age to 60/65

jem16

Southend1 wrote: »

Your children are very fortunate. However their experience isn't necessarily representative of the wider workforce.

Based on what experience?

My 2 children chose their careers and are doing very well in them. All of their friends chose what they wanted to do as well. All but one are doing what they wanted to do.

Southend1

jem16 wrote: »

Based on what experience?

My 2 children chose their careers and are doing very well in them. All of their friends chose what they wanted to do as well. All but one are doing what they wanted to do.

This is all very well but what about young people who leave school without many qualifications, or those who choose to start a family, or who have to live near to someone they have caring responsibility for?

I think it's perfectly possible for some people to choose their career. I suspect most of these are from well off families, went to a good school, are bright, geographically mobile, don't have curveballs thrown at them like a sick parent who needs care or an unexpected baby etc.

I'm not saying your experience isn't valid, just that it might not reflect the realities of work for the majority.

C_Mababejive

hugheskevi wrote: »

Most of the developed world is in the process of increasing State Pension ages, generally to about 67.

.

Indeed,look at Liz n Phil how hard they work and way past their retirement ages.

redbuzzard

Southend1 wrote: »

This is all very well but what about young people who leave school without many qualifications, or those who choose to start a family, or who have to live near to someone they have caring responsibility for?

I think it's perfectly possible for some people to choose their career. I suspect most of these are from well off families, went to a good school, are bright, geographically mobile, don't have curveballs thrown at them like a sick parent who needs care or an unexpected baby etc.

I'm not saying your experience isn't valid, just that it might not reflect the realities of work for the majority.

I think you only have to ask yourself how many children tell the careers adviser they want to work evenings and weekends in a call centre, or Currys, Tesco, Halfords, etc to know that not everybody gets their dream job.

Something else that struck me was that both my father and my mother's brother never lived more than a couple of miles from work. The fact that they didn't change employer for 40 years helped, of course.

The chances of having the same employer for a working life now must be almost nil, and the time and expense that is wasted on commuting is beyond counting. An hour or more each way is commonplace. I don't say it could have been avoided, but how is that progress in improving people's lives?

This isn't really a rant, more observation. But I certainly don't feel that my children have it easier than we did, and as miffed as I might be about my shrunken retirement income, I don't want to saddle the next generation with any more of our collective debts than we already have.

mumps

Southend1 wrote: »

Your children are very fortunate. However their experience isn't necessarily representative of the wider workforce.

I hope you are a good personnel manager and that you refuse to resort to the kind of low practice I have encountered during my career, e.g. Zero hours contracts, salaries that include a 25% "bonus" for opting out of the 48 hour working week and having no choice over days off, very low contracted hours with compulsory overtime clauses, inappropriate use of fixed term or temp contracts etc.

Yes there are many people who are happy to work Sundays. But for each young college student looking for a little pocket money there will also be several people for whom that job is their sole source of income and who would much rather be at home with the kids for one day a week than serving frappacappamoccachoccochinos to people who can't possibly live without Starbucks for one whole day.

Well they may be fortunate but they have all worked very hard to achieve the career they wanted.

I don't use zero hours contracts or fixed term contracts, people only work over 40 hrs if they want overtime. Not all employers are out to exploit people.

mumps

Southend1 wrote: »

Good advice you gave to your children.

I agree that the increase in material wealth has not led to a corresponding improvement in living standards for the majority.

Hopefully future generations will realise that being able to buy a new lawnmower at 3 in the morning isn't necessarily a good thing. This idea that we must always shop shop shop 24/7 and buy more and more plastic tat to be happy would be laughable to our grandparents generation.

Well you might shop at 3 in the morning but I am tucked up in bed well before that. Come to think of it I don't think I have ever bought a lawnmower at any time of day or night.

You seem to think that shopping at night or on a Sunday is compulsory, it really isn't. If you want to shop between 9 and 5 Monday to Friday no one is stopping you. If you don't want to work weekends find a job that doesn't involve weekend working. Whatever you decide please leave other people to live their lives their own way not your way.

Southend1

mumps wrote: »

please leave other people to live their lives their own way not your way.

This is exactly my point! Your attitude forces people to work at unsocial hours to fulfil your greed for trivial consumer trinkets. Please let others less fortunate than you have quality time with their families. The gain to society is much greater than the loss to you. Who knows, you may even reap the benefits yourself.

mumps

Southend1 wrote: »

This is exactly my point! Your attitude forces people to work at unsocial hours to fulfil your greed for trivial consumer trinkets. Please let others less fortunate than you have quality time with their families. The gain to society is much greater than the loss to you. Who knows, you may even reap the benefits yourself.

I am amazed at my own importance, to think the government legislated to allow me to buy trinkets, and socks, at any time I wanted. To all the people who make a living by working at weekends I wonder what you will do if I stop my mad dash round the shopping malls of England.

Southend1

mumps wrote: »

I am amazed at my own importance, to think the government legislated to allow me to buy trinkets, and socks, at any time I wanted. To all the people who make a living by working at weekends I wonder what you will do if I stop my mad dash round the shopping malls of England.

Don't get carried away, they didn't do it as a special favour to you, rather for their friends who own businesses which stand to profit from your belief that more socks make you a happier person.

Step back and ponder for a moment. You have two feet. You don't need to wear more than one pair of socks at a time. How many pairs of socks do you really NEED?

Now think about your children. How much do they value quality time spent with you? How much is that time together worth to you?

margaretclare

redbuzzard wrote: »

I think you only have to ask yourself how many children tell the careers adviser they want to work evenings and weekends in a call centre, or Currys, Tesco, Halfords, etc to know that not everybody gets their dream job.

Something else that struck me was that both my father and my mother's brother never lived more than a couple of miles from work. The fact that they didn't change employer for 40 years helped, of course.

The chances of having the same employer for a working life now must be almost nil, and the time and expense that is wasted on commuting is beyond counting. An hour or more each way is commonplace. I don't say it could have been avoided, but how is that progress in improving people's lives?

This isn't really a rant, more observation. But I certainly don't feel that my children have it easier than we did, and as miffed as I might be about my shrunken retirement income, I don't want to saddle the next generation with any more of our collective debts than we already have.

I agree with the above. The first 3 paragraphs do illustrate very well what changes have taken place during a lifetime. DH was in the position of seeing the manufacturing industry disappear before his eyes over a couple of decades. These would be the people who worked close to home, whose work could be reached by a bike ride or on foot. He talks about - as an example - the Raleigh bike factory at Nottingham. Multiply that by all the other industries up and down the country.

I think the young generation - those who're now in young adulthood - have it extremely hard. Both DH and I were able to walk into a job as and when we chose to. Not any more.