Is Ann Widdecombe right about females age of reirement?

Fair point quizqueen though to be really fair not all benefits go to abusers of the system. Benefit....a payment made by the state or an insurance scheme to someone entitled to receive it. It's the entitled bit that is tricky.

I feel that the media have a part to play in portraying the negative side of the benefit system and honestly are they always to be believed?

As for putting myself forward to be an MP - no way - would you, or have you?

I'm 62 dh 4 years older,retired last year.We should be retired together now.I've just read online that my retirement age is 66 and 6 months ! No notification yet. Nobody seems to take into account, the jobs people do, I work in what amounts to a sweat shop, I'm pressured everyday to do more work, told my age isn't taken into consideration, and I'm in pain a lot of the time, we have to work 6 hours without a break which is over lunch time, so I sneak a cereal bar when I can just to keep going.Luckily I'm part time, but feel so sorry for the other ladies that live alone, so have to work full time. AW need to have a look at some of these factories, and see what hard work is.

That sounds very harsh Katya , I’m slightly older than you, and continue to work, but in a far more easy going environment.
It’s certainly harder as we get older, with all the aches and pains, It seems like your employer is very inconsiderate, and would probably get a lot more from his workers, if he eased up a bit

My retirement date was moved twice! The coalition government in 2011 moved it by a whole year with only 6 years to go, and I was not notified.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Have to agree with you again maryeliza

And Katyj your sweatshop conditions sound illegal? I was of the opinion a break is mandatory after 4 hours? Even if it’s only 20 minutes. Must look it up.

Then again, THAT is exactly why we used to have unions to represent us. I’d put money on the fact that none of you are in one otherwise you could request an outside official comes in to discuss the situation with your management.

X posts maryeliza
I was referring to:

maryeliza54 Sun 28-Apr-19 22:10:23

Urm I was going to make the point about unions.

Oh course she is correct and men and woman ought to retire at the same age. In fact given the average life expectancy of both men should perhaps be able to retire earlier.

But the whole issue has been so badly managed that no wonder the WASPI women are fuming. This should have been introduced very gradually and everyone kept informed. As it didn’t affect me I’m only going on what I read and, if people are telling it straight, then it wouldn’t seem the information wasn’t sent to individuals AND dates kept being advanced.

Do I have thar correct?

However the woman is a complete big-mouth and is always on the look out for opportunities to self-publicise.

Is she really only 71? Thought she was much older than that ???

I don’t think working 6 hours without a break is legal at all, but having said that neither do I think it’s unusual. My DD often tells me that she has had no break whatsoever as they have been too busy and there was no one to take over from her to enable even a short sit down. She works for a huge chain.

On the subject of AW and retirement age. There is one thing working on until you are 70+ doing something you love and are fully able to do at an advanced age, but another thing entirely working on doing something you detest and struggle with, but are forced to do just to make ends meet. Those who were fortunate enough to retire at 60 with their pensions are VERY lucky indeed. With a retirement prediction of 67 and 4 months I fully expect never to retire.

Meant to add that many women in their 50’s and 60’s are now expected to work on but still look after their elderly parents and their grandchildren too.

Pension equalisation for women was first addressed by the 1995 Act, which gave all us affected many years to plan our retirement. The game-changer was the Tory government's targeting the same women in their 2011 Act, which put back our pension date further. This was certainly not enough time to make financial arrangements. It was absolutely disgusting and only the Tories would get away with such a scam. I retired at 61 due to the fact that I have occupational pensions, but I really feel for women who have to struggle on in demanding, or poorly paid jobs. They wouldn't even have attempted to do this if it had been men. They thought these women were a pushover. Thankfully due to WASPI they have found that is not the case! It will be very interesting to hear the result of the judicial review - although the Government have probably got some tame judge lined up to do their bidding.

Katyj my dearest sister is in the same situation as you she is 60 this year and worry about her all the time. She does horrible hours 6pm-2am but very often is expected to work till 3 or 4am depending on the work load. She has terrible issues with her feet, legs and back from so much standing and it breaks my heart when i see her so worn out and very often in tears as she dreads the thought of another 6years plus to do.

Anja it was introduced very gradually - it was the Coalition’s 2011 Act that was the game changer. I think the issue of notification was appallingly dealt with but the later changes even with proper notification were far too harsh.

Greta I don’t think the comment about a ‘tame’ judge is fair or helpful and neither is it rational.

Hey maryeliza you and I have opinions in common! Who’d have thunk it?
?

Well it’s a good way to deal with the care system isn’t it.

Kill us all off in our late 60s through work so we don’t cost anything

Some really sad stories here, I think it’s right that pension age for women should rise, but appalling, the way it’s been implemented

Like most on here I don't have a problem with the philosophy of equalization of retirement age, but I have a huge issue with the great leaps in women's retirement age. A more gradual approach would have been fair.

I'm 61 and a thought goes through my head on a regular basis, that if I had been born a few years earlier, I would have retired at 60!
I was made redundant 3 years ago and even though I have done as advised, taken anything off my CV (such as O levels) that will give away my age, I have not been able to find a permanent job- I get interviews, but I can see the interviewer's face drop when I walk in the door.
Government knew the ageing population could cause a problem as far as the money pot for pensions was concerned a good 20 years before anyone was notifyed as to the change in retirement age and I personally get really fed up with ex MPs, on an annual pension which is often above any normal person could live on for 5 years preaching to us that we should have paid into a private pension, saved more etc!

Exactly Gill, I’m saddened to hear some of the stories here

I would like all people (male and female) have the option to work as long as they want. I was made redundant (not retired!) age 72 which was three years ago and I have many friends who choose to work into their seventies, but it is a choice. By the way I was a teacher, a much maligned profession but one which I loved.

Our pensions are some of the lowest in Europe. I believe they are second from bottom. Underpinning this is a certain amount of disregard and disrespect for our elderly citizens. The age of retirement has been calculated from a financial perspective. Therein lies the root of the problem. Why are we not collecting enough taxes to ensure our pensioners are on a par with other European Countries. Something is rotten to the core here.

I did put myself forward to become an MP on a program against austerity and benefits cuts. I was 70 then and I'd do it again at 75!! I didn't win! BTW I was only going to take the average wage and donate the rest to my party.

Still, it's worth looking at what has happened, and MaryEliza54 has told us some of it.

If wealth were equally distributed and we concentrated on producing what we really need (ie not weapons of war etc) the real retirement age would probably be around 50 with earlier for those in stressful or obnoxious jobs (sewage comes to mind!)

Income tax for the wealthy used to be 95% (remember 19/6 in the pound?). It is now 40%. Of course their friends in the media are not shrieking about that! And 500 thousand million pounds have been given to the banks since 2008. That's a LOT of money gone out of government funds.

Over the decades the welfare state and pensions have been attacked and diminished. Privatisation is the subtext for all this. And to achieve this the power of the unions has also been eroded. Again, not a lot of this in the media!

The current government is NOT going to stop there. There are plans to take away free TV licences and bus passes!

How long you sit back and let them do it is up to you!!

I am really saddened to hear some of the stories about pensions. Its dam hard work working and caring for someone as well as looking after yourself. AWid is a disgrace, she does not live in the real world and has an easy life, funded by our taxes. I am one of the lucky ones who received their SP at 60 and was retired at 57 on the grounds of ill health with a good pension. But this not stop me being concerned about others.