To think the back to 60 campaign is grabby

[Neaoll]

It's been known about for a long time that state pension ages would be equalised.

State pension is just unsustainable, it was never supposed to be something people claim for 20-30 years. Was for people that had a hard time so they didn't starve to death in their last few years. Now it's a top-up to the richest part of society. It should have been linked with life expectancy a long time ago.

I'm in my 40s and dont expect to ever get a state pension. I've been contributing to my private pension ever since I worked to support myself.

The OP is speaking only from her own experience of well off, home owning, married women in their early 60s. She is not listening. Personally I have not been affected badly. I was able to retire at 62. I just missed the double whammy delivered to women a couple of years younger than me. I have a private pension ( albeit smaller due to a 8 year period of part time working). I am married, so there is more household income. I could say I'm alright Jack. ( although I must have gone wrong somewhere because I can't manage the 4 holidays per year lifestyle). However I can see the difficult position of a woman who has worked as a carer in a nursing home,now has a bad back, but not bad enough for PIP. Lives in a council house, only worked intermittently when her children were young and is divorced from her waste of space ex. This is as much a class as genetation issue. Can you not see that, although the baby boomers were a fortunate generation in many ways women of that generation had their own struggles?, No maternity leave until 1979 and then very limited. Few nurseries. No in work benefits, only income support paid to the head of household if he became unemployed. I think 'Back to 60 'isn't feasible but ffs think outside your own experience. Setting the generations against each other detracts from addressing real inequality in our society.

ffs think outside your own experience if only

Impossible for some posters, apparently

Generally women seemingly always have been, and still are, disadvantaged and undervalued in society. Unfortunately, there are plenty of older women who view younger women as being more advantaged than them and who overlook the difficulties facing the millennial generation. They seem tonbave lost respect for the younger generation and view it as their right to retire on a good pension even when this pension will be paid for by people who will never see the same. They think it’s an advantage to younger women that they work all hours and don’t have the option of staying home with the children. They think the burden of work and responsibility lies with the millennials and don’t consider that this generation will grow up to be the first ever that is poorer than their parents, will likely work longer than any other and may never ever see a state pension.

Getting so bored with the stupidity on this thread.
I’m 62 and work in retail for one of those supermarkets that pp’s keeping banging on about - ‘jobs for older people’.
My job is very physical. I’m just over 5ft and have to drag on to the shop floor cages that are not only taller than me, but can contain hundreds of bottles of wine. You all know the difficulties in handling supermarket trolleys, well cages are no different, just heavier and bigger. It is desperately hard work.
I have to unload that cage, stock the shelves and then start another cage and then another and then another ..........
I’m all for people working when they’re older. BUT the work has to be appropriate for the individual. And I’m afraid there aren’t many appropriate jobs available for older people.

Well surely they have an extra 7 years of work to pay into a pension - so they'll get more?

I agree pointy there's some truly stupid attitudes on this thread.

I remember seeing statistics somewhere showing that a fair amount of women of that generation did not work at all after having children. I know quite a few who didn't.

Yes but that was their choice. My mum is 72, so a good few years older than the waspi generation and she worked for her entire career as a teacher, bar around 5 years out when kids were small. She was from a working class, council estate, background, so didn't have any opportunities that weren't available to all other woman at the time.

These women who are 10 years younger than my mum really have no excuse, even if they had given up work to look after small children, 25 years ago, when they were told about the state pension age going up, when they were were age 35,they could have easily rejoined the workplace, had ample time to retrain etc.

I have no sympathy for anyone who has made made life / financial choices, not paid sufficient NI contributions, and are now whinging about it not being fair etc. When changes are made there will always be some unfairness, eg I was the first year to have to pay University fees, if I had been born a year earlier I'd have paid nothing. It can't be helped, you just have to play the cards you're dealt.

YANBU
I am 65 now and won't get my pension until 6 weeks short of my 66th birthday. I couldn't afford to pay into a private pension. However, that was in part due to my life choices of both (not very well paid)career and to take time off for travelling in the past. In my opinion, anyone who watches the news, reads newspapers and has half a brain must have been well aware that the government could not afford to go on paying out pensions for women from the age of 60 for much longer and soon the rules would have to change. I'm not going to be well off when I do get my pension (single income, live in London) and expect to have to go on working quite a lot of the year in order to be able to pay the bills and have the odd holiday/a few outings, etc. Many of my peers are in the same boat BUT it isn't anyone's fault and all this whingeing is very irritating.

all this whingeing is very irritating

And yet pointy men are expected to manage. Despite living less long.

Sounds terrible Pointy

I'm younger but can't wait to retire if I'm honest and don't think I could work till 67 unless it was part time. I don't hate my job but my health is sporadic and the commute is tiring. I hate being micro managed at times.

I'm trying to save money and hopefully we could move away and downsize. DH can take his work pension soon and could still work less hours possibly

My dps will probably become a concern in the next few years.

There are younger people who get money from government for only working 15 hours a week etc ooh.

I have a couple of friends who don't work at all below retirement age who I think are very fortunate. I would never be bored at home.

**I don't hate my job but my health is sporadic and the commute is tiring. I hate being micro managed at times.

Right.. but this has nothing to do with entitlement to state pension. Unless we should just start funding people to stay at home because they don’t like to be micromanaged and would prefer to kick back at home?

I'm in my 40s and that has been my experience already. They have also increased the amount I have to pay in but my benefits have gone down

Only for future benefits though unlike the State pension

Cloudyyy There may be some entitled older women who don't see the very difficult challenges facing young adults but most of us have children and grandchildren and aren't blind. The lack of understanding can go both ways. Meanwhile we have an atrificial rift between the generations and fail to address issues like austerity, sexism and inequality.

Setting the generations against each other detracts from addressing real inequality in our society.

Exactly - why address the real issues when you can just get people sneering at each other instead?

How much is the UK state pension per month? For the average person I mean, since I assume it's variable.

I know that cloudy and I don't expect any money from the state if I make that choice but sometimes quality of life is worth more than money

Only for future benefits though unlike the State pension

Not sure what that means.

@pointyfinger So why at some point of your life did you not think about learning a new skill so you weren't doing physical work at your age? (actually it sounds like a great keep fit workout and will save gym membership :)) There are zillions of opportunities for online courses, local FE colleges where you could have learned accounting, bookkeeping, PA/ secretarial skills, done an NVQ as they were then, even a degree - and the list goes on.
It was all in your own hands.

I agree with you. A generation of people who have, as a gross generalisation, had it better than anyone in history, have taken it for granted and expected it to continue forever. A state pension isn't a fact of life, it had to change, get over it.. j

moonage I do agree with you to a degree. I am a bit younger than your Mum but I have a very similar background. Of course some people have had caring responsibilities for children with disabilities or other family members, or mental or physical health issues of their own. There was little support for them in the past. Married women could not get carers allowance as they would "be at home anyway". Until 1980 I think, following a campaign led by hospice social workers

@Trewser So what exactly is the work you do? You have an awful lot to say about the so called discrimination but upthread you posted about the women you employ. (BTW you don't seem to be doing much work yourself today!)

smoothlaw about 550 per month but will be a bit more under the new scheme

I for one was paid exactly the same as men all the time I worked and I'm coming up to 65

Good for you. Unfortunately we do have a gender pay gap -
which is shockingly about 27% in my organisation (financial services)

I am just looking at an old pension scheme booklet and the scheme was not available to part timers until 1997. I think there’s a lot of taking for granted in general on this thread that the ability to build up pension rights is equal for men and women but it wasn’t for years

Barbariansmum

I did not say that men should be expected to do the job and women shouldn’t.
I was pointing out to pp’s who witter on about the provision of ‘jobs for older people’ that those jobs need to be within an older person capabilities (regardless of gender).
I have seen so many older people take up these vacancies and then leave shortly afterward because they can’t cope with the physical demands.