The Age of No Retirement-I hate this name!

Anyway work is boring , how much n icer than to spend your days doing exactly WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.

I don't think going to work has made me more intelligent. I meet the public every day of my working life. I go to staff meetings, meet deadlines, some of the time I have to do what I'm told by people I don't like or respect. All the normal push and pull of working life. I don't think it's made me more interesting. It has given me lots of skills I may not have learnt if it wasn't necessary. Many people I know who haven't had to go out to work for what ever reason still have intelligent opinions. They take an interest in life and the world around them. They read, they research, they analyse. I would never look down on anyone. We know nothing of what goes on in other peoples life. People learn in all types of ways. Living,loving, caring, hurting, loosing, suffering and happiness. All these things teach us and make us interesting people capable of intelligent opinions. I hope after years of hard work I will enjoy my retirement. I hope I won't vegetate. I hope I will still be a valuable member of my family and society. Even if it's just smiling and having the time to spend with the people around me.

I could no more have gone back to work when my baby was a month old than cut off my own arm .

Especially when the employment of many women doesn't involve boardrooms and high powered meetings. More often than not, it involved doing what the (usually male) boss told you to do.

It was ten years. #nevercouldcount

Who actually did your domesticity Silverfish?

Why do some people think that the world of paid employment is the only real world?

Odd. IMO.

Who do you think sits on the committees of charities and school governor boards, Silverfish ? Who does prison visiting, runs after-school clubs and sports? Who manages the volunteers in charity shops?

Do you imagine that they can do all that without also being able to chair a meeting and get all items on the agenda covered in a reasonable time, without the more aggressive committee members bulldozing the meeker ones?

How do you think they co-ordinate gangs of children with high spirits and more energy than Torness Power Station and train them in their sports without management skills to equal that of the teachers who teach them through the week? The same with managing a charity shop or running a playgroup - people to co-ordinate, equipment and supplies to maintain, paperwork to keep in order, red tape to negotiate, all while keeping up-to-date with developments in the field.

You don't really believe that without paid work all these dainty little ladies are sitting all day drinking tea, though, do you? You say you do to see the responses.

silverfish I am stunned by your condescending attitude. Working or not working is not the key to being a whole person.
You disliked being at home full time, many people would dislike your choice of work. Many people are in mind-numbing work and might be much happier home-schooling their child(ren).
Many people who are in work still manage to have blinkered, prejudiced views, maybe you've noticed that?

Jane, it's in the Gransnet Latest list at the side of the page.

Looking back over this post (haven't been on for couple of days) I defend my opinions that stay at home women (don't have to be mums) can have intelligent opinions , they cant. They see what they read in newspapers, see on tv news etc . I would never take anyone seriously who tried to tell me something or tried to criticise me when they had never worked or worked for a decent period of time. How can you compare sitting at home all day washing dishes etc to the pressure of say a conference, a meeting in the boardroom, or in my case meeting the public at all levels, striving to meet deadlines and many other interesting and educating parts of a working life.
I stayed at home for a while (a month while my little one was tiny) then went back to work as a community worker. I really felt my mind was numbing each day that I faced another round of dish washing and nappy changing, much as I loved my little girl I couldn't face all the hassle of domesticity. At work I felt alive and my mind opening. I am sure many others feel the same. I actually look down on people who don't work because I pay taxes to fund their lifestyle.

FarNorth have you got a link to the site where you got that quote from please?

Retirement takes on many forms. I took 'early retirement' at 60, 15 months before my state pension retirement age,to look after my disabled husband. I had a fabulous career and tried to keep on working and looking after him for a couple of years but it took its toll on both of us so I reluctantly gave up work. People who know me said they couldn't imagine me not working and if truth be told neither could I but I must say I love being retired. I am fortunate to be a part of my young grandchildren's lives which was difficult when working full time. The only downside is the limitations of my husband's disability but we treat every day as a new day and are grateful for what it brings.

Must say I feel very sorry for those who fear retirement so much. There is so much out there to learn that we never had time to do before- be it painting, or photography, or history, or whatever- there are so many groups to join if one wants to, so many things to discover or re-discover to make ze little grey cell work- languages to learn or re-learn, etc. When we work there is just no time- it's wonderful now to have that luxury and joy.

Child allowance is benefit isn't it? Did you forego that Jinglebells?

Blimey jingl, SuFlay thinks you're a lady!

Thank you.

I like your opinions

I've never claimed benefit in my life!

I've definitely got opinions. Stick around Silverfish. You're bound to notice sooner or later.

If it wasn't for gransnet I don't know how I'd cope with not having people at work to chat to these days.

I have been gainfully employed all my working life, job, family etc and now I am self employed. Have been for 7 years.
I do miss work colleagues and get lonely working from home, but the compensations outweigh the drawbacks.
My boss is a stickler for punctuality (oh that's me then) the work colleagues are terrible gossips (oh, that's the dogs then) but who cracks the whip?
Moi!

tcherry what sort of practice are you suggesting that Galen has exactly?

Galen Go private, have your own practice !!

I know Private is not ideal but you don't have to charge the earth.

That's a good point, Tegan and Nonu.

I think that is true for a lot of Granparents, tegan.

So in actual fact the over 50"s are playing a central role in the economy/ society FAR

I think a lot of us are spending a great deal of time looking after our grandchildren so that our children can work to pay for their mortgages .

Because ageism is alive and well and still out there!