Raising the female state pension age to 66.... fair or foul?

I feel that the female pension age should have been raised years ago. Women want equality of the sexes, but only when it suits them. Why should men work more years than women? I don't understand why the governant is waiting to 2018 to end this sexism. Women need to pull their weight.

I think that employers need to be more imaginative and encouraged to employ part timers more. We need people to work part time while at uni (in a proper job) and maybe for people to work part time in their sixties.

The tiny problem is that there aren't enough jobs now, so where are all these extra (skilled, experienced = expensive) people going to work?

The rise (for females) to 65, and the timescale for it, was enacted some time ago.

The rise (for both sexes) to 66 (2024) was legislated for in the 2007 Pensions Act, as were further increases to 67 (2034), and 68 (2044).

So the raising of the State Pension age has been a done deal for some years now.

All that is proposed to change is the timings.

I agree there should be more transition. I'm 54. I've worked all my life towards a retirement age of 60 but just when I was getting to the stage of planning my leisure time it has gone up to 62, 65 and now 66! When will it end! I think those of us in our 50s have definitely got the short straw!

It's high time pension ages are equalised for men and women. Overdue even. I don't even feel sorry for women in their mid 50s, since I am one. So I'll have to work an extra year in 12 year's time. It doesn't take a lot of preparation.

I am lucky, older than DH and retiring at 66 while he needs to carry on to 67. It gets him back for the micky taking over the years!

Fair in the long term, women have longer life-expectancy and we ask for equality in everything else. Some transitional relief would be useful for though.

I don't have a problem with it. The pension age was set at a time when most people made it to 50 or 60 - it's only recently that it's become the watershed after which you have 20 or even 30 years of leisure time to do what you like with. I think it's completely reasonable to raise the pension age. I'm 32 now and fully expect to be working for as long as my mind keeps working.

Yes... we're just about to consign 92 year old MIL to a nursing home (she lived independently till this January). She has high blood pressure - or would have, without the meds. The same thing killed her older brother at 50. She also has diabetes - that would have done for her long ago if untreated, and if she hadn't been good at eating properly.

Looking round nursing homes at some of the poor souls, it occurs to me that some people lose the will to die ... that may sound paradoxical, but when my dad's body started failing in his mid 80s but with mental faculties intact, I'm pretty sure he more or less thought, sod this, I'm going to die in my sleep. I've seen the same sort of thing in other cases. For people who lose mind before body, they can't escape like this.

Sorry, wandering way OT!

Thing is Cognito, it's the healthy ones in their fifties who are the problem. The unhealthy ones who you could lecture on quitting drinking, smoking, losng weight etc are probably going to clock off before they're 70 having ignored you completely (you can lead a horse to water and all that)

Many age related diseases are just signs of the body wearing out. We can counter the wear with medication, and prolong life, but we can't stop the body getting tired, cell replication slowing, etc. A generation ago, most people didn't live long enough to get things like dementia. Now they do, and apart from being very tragic for those involved, it also takes a long time to kill you.

God I'm depressed.......

It's absolutely fair to bring men and women into line re state retirement age. It is NOT fair to do this so quickly. Women currently aged 54 are seeing their state pension age rise by up to two years overnight, and have precious little time to prepare for it.
Would be better to stick to the original age 65 by 2020 and then go 65.25 the next year, 65.5 the year after etc. That would give these women (many of whom have v little state pension anyway because of the travesty that was the married woman's stamp, plus unequal pay in workforce, plus time out to raise children etc) a bit more time to plan

Sorry- hit post too soon. What I mean is, any initiative is likely just to extend life further and delay that 10 yrs of poor health further down the line. People survive things they wouldn't have survived 20 yrs ago, mainly due to advances in medications for heart and blood pressure problems.

We're all outstaying our welcome- that's the bottom line.

There may be a new task for the NHS in preventative medical practices that enable more to reach old age in better health

Like what?

Fair. I'm 50; 60 is ridiculously young nowadays to retire.

Employers should be encouraged to allow more flexible working for older workers - downshifting some years before retirement is probably ideal - for quite a lot they will have their kids off their hands and may have repaid mortgage and therefore not need full salary.

When the state pension age was originally set, it was above the age of average life expectancy so it was not anticipated that the majority would draw it.

In addition, actuarial tables consistently show average femal life expectancy above that of males (although the gap is closing).

There is no justification for different male and female retirement ages and legislation is already in place to move to a state pension age of 68. The current government is just accelerating what was introdiced (seeminly without much notice) several years ago. The changes are a necessity to ensure that state pension provision remains affordable.

thinking about it thats probably why the age was always lower fro women, so that we would also be retired to look after them in their retirement! :)

hope all the men out there are prepared to be doing a lot more work around the house! As most women marry men older than themselves the men will be enjoying their retirement while their wives are still out to work full time. As a lady half way through 50's I was looking forward to spending time with my dh..now I will not receive anything until he is 76!

I think it's fair to bring male and female pension age into line. I'm just not sure if it's workable to extend the ages much further. On the other "pensions" thread (yes, they are multiplying), Lesley33 linked some stats which showed that the problem is that many people won't be up to working that long, as although life expectancy is higher, people don't die as quickly now- often death is preceded by 10yrs of poor health sponsored by a cocktail of pharma products, so whereas they would have been dead, now they're alive but largely incapacitated. The idea of "active retirement" is somewhat mythical and largely confined to more affluent people who are unlikely to be relying solely on the state pension anyway.

I also think that for some jobs, 60 is probably the limit- for example, my mum is 63 and in great health, very active etc. She was a teacher. Could she teach FT now? Absolutely no way, and she'd be the first to admit it.

So, what would her choices be? She could either live off her savings until she could draw her pension, or get a "joe job". The latter is do-able. Employers are coming round to the idea of more mature employees as they're more reliable and have better interpersonal skills than the 18-24yr olds who typically do these jobs. BUT, that implies higher youth unemployment because there are only so many jobs

Arguably we all just have to die earlier. Life Crystals anyone?

it's fair IMO