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

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

The proposal on the table is 65 by 2018 and 66 by 2020.

I am looking towards retirement and feel that DC & co are doing it all wrong.
There should be the option for people to work part timei their professions in order to"wind down".

Working like a "dog" till you drop is all very well. I am in my 50's and find that working full time plus my daily commute into London, added to my "housewifely" duties when I get in each evening is getting physically too much.

I would like to cut out the commuting but know I would never at my age get a job locally, so I just soldier on. I don't want to retire at sixty and I feel I have a useful contribution to make I just would like to do shorter hours with a view to winding down completely at 65.

Physically most people deteriorate in their 50's DC and his cronies have yet to experience that. With so much youth inemployment why make older people work such long hours?

I have a husband who will be looking for a new job at 53.

I am in favour (for him) as he will have longer to work (in an employers eyes) he is exceptionally young for his age and still very much wants to work.

I worry about those that are done and need to retire however...that seems an exhausting prospect.

I am not sure. Life expectency has increased but it is largely extra years with disability or ill health; according to some statistices I recently studied. I know people who have retired at 50 on generous pensions and others who work into their 70s. It's a difficult one.

Agree, Harriet.

It's a big assumption that everyone will stay fit and well into their 50s, 60s and beyond. In my 40s I had the best years of my career and then I hit 50 and my health has slowly deteriorated since then. I don't drink or smoke and I tried to stay fit, but now I have a chronic illness with no hope of a swift recovery. If you had asked me in my 40s I would have said that I wanted to work well into my 60s. But now I don't know if I will be able to make it until I am 55 :(

It is fair. Everyone is living longer and the system cannot fund 20+ years of retirement and was never designed to .

I'm likely to live into my 90s and so is DH (on lifespan/health of near relatives) of course I need to work longer than 60.