To think part of the increase in long term sickness is the increase in retirement age?

@Mischance you could not just ask for a council house. I lived in London in shared housing and was told I would never get a council place. Homeless families did get council houses after being in hostels for a maximum of 6 months. So it was much better than now, but it was not a nirvana.

I’m 60.

NHS dentistry has never been totally free in my lifetime.

I think my parents generation had it the best. I’m in my early 40’s so those in their 60’s. They didn’t have the technological advancements we have now but you could get a doctors appointment, a dentist, if you went to A&E you’d get seen, if you wanted a council house you’d just ask, university was free, you could buy a house on one wage, women could retire at 60, whereas that would be impossible now.

All true - I am of the grandparent generation.

Doctor's appointments were no problem at all. In fact you could just roll up at the surgery and sit and wait your turn. A&E ran smoothly - a bit of a wait of course, but not measured in hours. Referrals to consultants had a wait of just a few weeks. NHS dentists were the norm and free for everyone - and lots of preventive dentistry for children. University was indeed free - tuition fee covered for all and maintenance grants were means tested based on parental income - the LA paid some and parents contributed according to their means. My post grad course was paid for by the Home Office - fees and maintenance. I retired at 60 with a slightly reduced state pension because I took time off for raising children, but with a small occupational pension and an NHS widow's pension I tick along fine - not rich, but can cover all my needs, and I am mortgage free after down-sizing.

The massive downturn in the NHS does of course have a huge impact on older people because of the inevitable health problems that accumulate throughout life. I have had to dip into my small pot of savings for more than one piece of surgery that would have taken months and months to happen on the NHS.

I really do feel for the current generation who are being sold short in so many ways, and for whom life is a struggle - for housing, health care and much more.
And I feel very sad for those who planned retirement on the basis of 60, only to find that the goalposts have moved - there is no way I could have worked to 67/68 with the health problems that have come my way as a result of aging.

And after the age of 60 I spent much of my time in a caring role for my sick husband - who would have done that if I had been obliged to be out in paid work?

There is a general election looming .... just a thought! It would be good to have a government who at least understood the concept of public services, although any new government is going to have its work cut out turning the juggernaut around.

I think my parents generation had it the best. I’m in my early 40’s so those in their 60’s. They didn’t have the technological advancements we have now but you could get a doctors appointment, a dentist, if you went to A&E you’d get seen, if you wanted a council house you’d just ask, university was free, you could buy a house on one wage, women could retire at 60, whereas that would be impossible now.

Owning your own home or at least having a home that is secure, is almost a luxury now. I don’t believe it was back then. The pressure on people now to be able to afford the basics, like shelter, food/heating etc is immense and many people feel they are just keeping their heads above water. There’s nothing to look forward to, the everyday grind of working full time to the rip old age of 68 and god knows what it will rise to over the coming years.

I think the younger generation have got it even worse and I feel sorry for them. It’s even more difficult to simply survive so I don’t think it’s any wonder that so many people have MH issues. Regarding propel being signed off sick close to retirement age, it doesn’t surprise if me one iota.

Well, you no longer need to claim Universal Credit when you are in receipt of your State Pension which is much higher than Universal Credit. There are exceptions to this such as if your partner is younger than you, but this is just the basic guideline.

Personal Independence Payment is in place due to the higher costs disabled people face. It's not in place to cover normal household bills, although obviously some disabled people will have higher heating and water bills due to their disability.

Sadly that does not surprise me.

Never had my lungs x-rayed.

Had Covid a few days before the first lockdown. Only knew I had it after antibodies test later on. There were no test centres for 50 miles at the beginning. Then had Covid summer 2022.

But that’s the fault of bad government.

@GoodnightAdeline we also have some of the longest waiting lists for healthcare and extremely high inequality and child poverty. That is shown to increase mental health problems and entrench physical health problems.
A good healthcare system and low levels of inequality help to create far stringer economies.

Yes but we have more claimants

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow The UK does have some of the lowest benefits in Europe and a very low state pension.

I get higher rate pip. It doesn't even cover the extra costs associated with my disability

I thought the UK had some of the lowest benefits in Europe.

And having lived through a previous Labour government l do think things can improve. It’s not like it can get worse is it?

The assessment criteria has been changed a great deal since then, much stricter than back in 2008.

I thought the UK had some very low unemployment & sickness payments? Germany and France are far more generous.

Unfortunately, because we have privatised social housing, rent support payments are super high.

Yes I don't think things will get better with Labour. There will be a push on supporting people back to work, it may appear more sympathetic, but I would expect them to do something similar in policy terms.

I'm in a similar position to you sadly.
My lungs were further damaged by long covid too.

Customers need to stop moaning to shop workers about things beyond our control- staffing, supply issues, price increases, the slowness of 93 year old Doreen in front of them in the queue etc. We didn’t decide to increase your paper by 5p or heavy rain in a certain part of the world affects the supply of fresh pineapple etc.

They don’t seem to understand that being moaned at for 6-8 hours a day affects our MH and many are on antidepressants. How would they like it if my colleagues and I went to their homes and moaned for 6-8 hours. Wouldn’t like it.

Customers need to ring head office to register their complaint/concerns. Moaning to us - may as well moan to a rock.

People moan but don’t do it to the right people.

It will be back to the Victorian days “Sally died last night”.

My pension age is 68. My lung age is 78 years now. Think my lungs will be the end of me. Asthmatic on four medications and holds a Steroid Emergency Card.

ATOS and Capita were brought in to assess disability claimants under similar criteria as present in, wait for it, 2008.

The fact is the UK state can't afford more liberal welfare policies than it currently has and they are quite generous by OECD standards.

Inconvenient for the New Labour spruikers on here but the implementation of these measures coincided with the GFC and we've been going backwards ever since.

Anyone who thinks things are going to change with the likes of Starmer, Reeves, Kendall and Streeting in Downing Street and Whitehall is kidding themselves.

The bottom line is that if someone has worked relatively continuously since leaving school, unless they are exceptionally lucky, full time work will get progressively harder with age. Humans wear out as everything does eventually.

That kind of belief sounds like someone talking who has never done these kind of jobs and has no real understanding of what is involved.

Letseeshallwe is far off base with this: "Because for the majority having a manual job keeps them healthier and active for longer."
I guarantee it does not keep one healthy. Repetitive injury is emotionally exhausting as well.

Was just thinking that @NoisySnail 😂

@hcee19 you really believe that?
If you do you are beyond niave.

I don't think anyone should worry who have disabilities and long term health issues. The people it is aimed at are the people who have chosen benefits as a way of life. Mental health has become the new' bad back'...