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

[Lazykitten]

Thinking of the people I know who are long term economically inactive long term (I believe that counted as over 6 months) and nearly all I know who fall into that bracket are my parents and there friends. Dad was a factory sparky and mum was a cleaner. Dad stopped work at i think around 61, mum does part time caring now in her early 60s but really struggles and I can see her having to give it up soon.

Most of their friends had similar manual jobs and now in their mid 60s a lot are signed off sick waiting for pension. These are people who have had manual jobs since they were 15/16 and their bodies are knackered. They can't (and very little point) in retraining now for their last couple of years before they get the state pension.

I work in an office job so can feasibly see how I could work to my late 60s and beyond, but those who've done manual work for over 40 years have the wear and tear on their bodies that they simply can't. As well as other health problems & decreasing energy levels that come with ageing.

There's got to be a sizeable number of folk age 60-67 that fall in that bracket? And taking it further is it another stick to beat the working class with?

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.

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’m 60.

NHS dentistry has never been totally free in my lifetime.

@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 am older than 60!!

I made no comment about council housing - that was someone else!

But l thought free dentistry was abolished to pay for the Korean War in the 50’s?

So l guess you could be right.

It was me that made that comment. Perhaps you couldn’t just walk in to the office and request one there and then but as you say, it was easier back then. I would imagine it would be easier to get a house in other areas of the country in comparison to London, much in the way it is now, London is an anomaly and doesn’t necessarily reflect the rest of the UK.

Regarding my Dentistry comment, I meant NHS subsidies, not completely free. Most practices are private now and many won’t even accept children

It’s so refreshing to see someone that sees it for what it was. Thank you for your post, much appreciated.

No but it has been affordable and most importantly, available, in my part of the world, s/w england, there are no nhs taking on new dentists and according to the couple of dentists i know, nothing will change following Sunaks dentists plan.

It is an utter disgrace that i could walk into a dentist in northern France and have my toothache fixed within 45mins for 35 euros but in the UK, no state dentists and private ones charge a min £80 just to say "hello" and then the cost of the treatment, usually, for one filling £140.

No wonder people go off sick.

Tbh it's all about how much tax we pay which barely gets mentioned on these threads. There is a reason why other countries are more generous with support than us.

Been saying this for years. 😃

Its not that straight forward, the UK citizen is paying, in real terms, more in tax then ever before, yet services and support are the worst they ve ever been.

There is a level of mismanagement going on here thats unprecedented & i blame out sourcing and privatisation of services/support... very wasteful and duplicates many functions.

People living longer taking up resources such as health, care, pensions, etc.

More people working part time or early retirement, so paying less tax/nic into the system.

Lots of reasons really.

Except life expectancy has fallen.

People my age used to leave school at 16 and work full time until retirement. Young adults now are often not starting full time work until their mid-twenties, a decade later.

Yes, but that takes decades to filter through. We've got a "hump" of older people at the moment, more than ever, and lower life expectancy will take a decade or two to get over that "hump".

The NHS being in a state will kill off a fair number of elderly people who need healthcare.

and by the time they’re at retirement age, it’ll probably be at 70 so that’s that extra decade they’ve made up, but with less quality of life.

@Fluffywigg Not true. I started full time work at 16 and retire at 67. The extra 3 years until retirement is not the same as an extra decade of education.

How many people are not working until 26? I imagine most are actually working by 22. Hyperbole isn't helpful.

That’s a choice you made to start work at 16. University was free. Youngsters now have to get in to tens of thousands of pounds worth of debt, for something available to your generation for free.

A decade extra of school, really? I don’t think the majority of people now are spending 10 extra years studying!

@Fluffywigg are you my age from a working class background? It was not really a choice. I did not even know how to apply to go to university. People like me did not go to university. The percentage who went to university was fairly low back then.

Okay people leaving at 22 and going into full time work are still working less years full time than I did. That is fine, things change, but do not pretend young people now will be working longer than most of us older people. My parents started full time work at 15, but got to retire at 60 and 65.

do not pretend young people now will be working longer than most of us older people.

Working from 16-60 like my parents did is 44 years.
Working from 21 to 68 like my kids are is 47 years.

They are already talking about increasing retirement age to 70.

60-15=45
68-22=46

You sure about that? (I didn't go to uni so actually, will be 50 years to pension age for me).