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Original poster

To feel sorry for women having to work till they're 66

383 replies

lazylab · 01/07/2017 11:11

I have 2 friends, one 60 the other 61 who are just so tired and worn out. The 60 year old works full time in a factory, she's totally shatttered at the end of her shift. Basically they're just desperate for retirement, but no chance of that till they're 66. Both these women are single, still paying mortgages, one of them earning fairly good money but the other is basically working just to live, can't afford luxuries or holidays etc. It's just soul destroying. These are just two examples of the plight of those affected by the changes to pension age.

Working full time as a young woman is definitely not the same once you hit 60, the body struggles to cope. I realise it's the same for men too, especially the ones doing physical jobs.
Sorry if it sounds like i'm moaning, but isn't life just shit for some people. Sad

OP posts:
BlurryFace · 02/07/2017 14:51

I don't feel particularly bad, no, I expect to work until I die and once I return to working it will be something like retail or other unskilled labour.

ManchesterBee · 02/07/2017 14:59

I calculated it the other day and I will be at least 68.
My Mum is that age now and can barely walk and is riddled with hireditory condition that my Nan also had. Luckily she had a great NHS pension and could retire early.

I'm screwed and will be one of those the disabilities assessors assess as fit for work to probably die on the job...

ManchesterBee · 02/07/2017 15:00

God awful spelling sorry. I'm on my phone and cannot fully see.

prawntail · 02/07/2017 17:22

I absolutely want to be working for as long as I can. In whatever capacity. I see it as a continued window to the world and have neither Enough money or desire to engage in 100% leisure to stop.

jeapurs54 · 02/07/2017 17:27

I am in the same situation, worked from 15 and now although unemployed at present and 62 have still got to seek work and find this more difficult as I get older, I am up against youngsters that are quicker, fitter, and more flexible with hours that they are willing to work. I feel that I have worked all my working life except for short time of having 2 children and now feel that retirement can't come quick enough, although there is not a big piggy bank it would be nice to not have the worry of seeking work and be able to relax.

ihatethecold · 02/07/2017 17:33

How do you know if you've paid enough NI ?
Am I right in thinking claiming child benefit covers you whilst unemployed due to child rearing?

helenjoanna · 02/07/2017 18:02

Men and women are not the same. Equality is not about treating men and women exactly the same, it's about making sure that no one is discriminated against because they have a vagina, or because they want to have sex with someone of the same gender, or because their skin is a different colour. Sometimes we NEED to treat people differently in order to achieve equality.

InvisibleKittenAttack · 02/07/2017 18:05

Ihatethecold - believe it does until your youngest is 12.

Smudge100 · 02/07/2017 18:19

I'm one of those women whose retirement age was pegged at 60 when i started my working life but got put back to 66 at very short notice. I've got no axe to grind about equality with men but i do think women age more rapidly after the menopause. I developed hypothyroidism and was struggling just to get through the day before i got medication. Doctors seems peculiarly reluctant to offer treatment for this very common condition, even though the medication is very cheap. I'm now 62 and single and have been made redundant three times in the last
few years. I have to say, even though i have an office job, i struggle physically with 40 hours a week. You just don't have the same energy levels in your sixties as you do in your fifties. I don't know how i'd cope if i had to go on after 66. Some people just age more quickly than others.

IvyWall · 02/07/2017 18:22

You can check your NI record online
www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

Lozzamas · 02/07/2017 18:22

I am a WASPI - I don't object to working longer - what I object to is a) I didn't plan for it - so my long made retirement funding is totally shot.
b) I am happy to keep working had not planned to pack in at 60 - however companies don't want you after 50 - I was made redundant as they wanted a younger more vibrant (cheaper) workforce. I have not found re employment despite some very heavy handed threats from the DWP to withdraw benefits -?even the jobs they have sent me to which only pay minimum wage, have said they aren't prepared to take on someone in their 50's and they certainly aren't prepared to train anyone that age.... so even if you can't draw your pension don't assume you can work till you drop as company's don't want the more mature lady.

AngelThursday · 02/07/2017 18:23

I think it's too old for old for both men and women but also think we as a country can't afford to pay pensions from 60. I guess the answer may be semi retirement post 58/60 alongside part time work thereby opening up jobs for younger people who often struggle to get a decent job let alone into the housing market.

ihatethecold · 02/07/2017 18:24

Thanks Ivy. I need to get my gateway thingy done first so i can access it.

Gingernaut · 02/07/2017 18:26

I'm 49. I've been told that I will have to work until I'm at least 67. Hmm

Quailingtonsmithe · 02/07/2017 18:28

Ive seen many people struggling to work as they're not at retirement age yet, also a number of poor souls that have died before pension age working their selves into the ground so to speak. I think once you get past 55 health issues do creep in and although people do live longer it doesn't mean that they're in good health, it just means we have better ways to keep people alive longer. I'm not able to retire until I'm 68 so no hope for me :( really dreading having to do a days work going on that age, what with how I am health wise already!

Sarahrellyboo1987 · 02/07/2017 18:28

I have to work until 69!
Welcome to equality!

user1471545174 · 02/07/2017 18:31

Oldsu - LetterEatCake''s post was ignorant. As though older people were never young, and hadn't already worked 40 years. I'd like young people to spend one day being over 50, then the tune might change.

Floisme · 02/07/2017 18:32

although people do live longer it doesn't mean that they're in good health,
Exactly. I don't think some posters realise how precarious health can become past 60.

StealthPolarBear · 02/07/2017 18:40

Healthy life expectancy is currently about 63 or 64years

makeourfuture · 02/07/2017 18:54

I think it's too old for old for both men and women but also think we as a country can't afford to pay pensions from 60. I guess the answer may be semi retirement post 58/60 alongside part time work thereby opening up jobs for younger people who often struggle to get a decent job let alone into the housing market.

This is the sort of thinking we should be doing.

dementedma · 02/07/2017 18:55

This is a really worrying thread.....Sad

caringcarer · 02/07/2017 19:04

For women my age state pension age will be 67. I worked even when my dc were small and built up good private pension and semi retire this Sept but will even then continue another for another year 1-2 days each month consultancy. I feel sorry for dc and others of their generation who may have to work until they are 75. For many emails the menopause every bit of energy they have.

orenisthenewblack · 02/07/2017 19:14

Do you know what? I'm mid forties and work full time. It's knackering!
Add to these hours, travelling time and then coming home to make tea (unless equal DH comes home before me) and usual household chores. Then, "they" want me to do 30 minutes exercise each day. No way Jose.
I want a four day week, working from 10-4 on the same wage obviously.

VerbenaGirl · 02/07/2017 19:16

^People are living longer, therefore people need to work longer to pay for their retirement.
I'm 40, and I fully expect to be working in some form into my seventies.^

Agree with this...
We cannot expect the retirement that our parents have had - unless we've made some pretty significant provisions for it from quite early on in our working lives. There's just not the money to go round.
Hopefully employers will develop strategies and policies to support older workers. Can't help but wonder about the impact this will have on childcare - as I know that there's an army of grandparents out there who currently help regularly, and there will be less possibility of this.

hks · 02/07/2017 19:26

Personally i think should have left the pension age as it was at 60 yrs

Having them work longer is taking away the jobs for the younger / middle aged generation

i know a few 60 + who work and still manage to look after their grandchildren and moan they are too exhausted

Its scary to think that when my kids grow up there might not be a pension age and have tp work till they are too ill or worse