Shift work at 60

Are you working in Care? Very hard graft .

Well, last 10 hour shift tomorrow and then 9 hour shift on Wednesday and after that will be a kept woman for the next 4 years 'til I get state pension …. but DH is 8 years older than me and we want some quality time together, feel very very very luck that we can afford to do this …

ethelbags1 same as my daughter. She can never make arrangements outside of work as many a time someone hasn't turned up. If she has a day off,they ring her to see if she can go in at some point.

In 64 but only work part time however as its zero hours they can ask me anytime at short notice so i may have planned a day at home thinking i would be off but would get aphone call asking me to work in the morning. I only have sundays off

I worry constantly about my darling sister who has to do unsocial hours to earn a decent wage, she has just found out though that she only has to go till 2024 rather than 2026 which we both thought she would. Still that is no consolation when i see her pale and wan from lack of sleep and the constant pain she experiences in her back and feet.She is not alone though, she told me many of the women she works with suffer with back ache and leg and foot problems, maybe as you get older these are the first parts to give problems if you are on your feet all night.

I worked shifts for all my career and quite enjoyed the freedom of time off when others worked etc. It is more difficult when children are young or your partner works 9 - 5
I think waking nights play havoc with your system more than anything else.
Twelve hour shifts are very long to do as a regular thing especially as you get older.

I am 63 and still working. I worked nights both 12 and 8 hr for 5 years recently and had to go back to days because I wasn’t sleeping . I work mix of 12 hr days and Nights. Mostlydays. Occasionally do 8 hr nights but easier as private setting. Shift work is worse as you get older for sure. I will continue to work till I am 66 and I know I need take care and not get exhausted. The pace of work certainly changed over the years and lack of staff means shifts are busier plus the mandatory training to fit it.

For the first time in 12 years my D has got C/eve,C day and Boxing day off because so many offered for the " double-time ". Yet ordinarily they do straight working hours------which is about right ( rolls eyes ) However D's looking forward to her time off.
We hate New Year in our family so she's working over that period.

phew, 12 hours shifts are no good for anyone especially as you get older,is there no way to get out? I know its tough ageism ,health etc. Some folk can handle shifts as they get older, but most cannot, there may be a point when you have to put your health first? a chat with your doctor may help.

I'm 62 and struggling with knee arthritis and all it brings . I'm off to the doc this morning to see if there's anything else , but I know the answer will be lose weight, get fit , painkillers and supplements . So really need to follow my own advice !
Age is a bugger but apparently can be reversed !

In lucky that I was born in 1951. I managed to work a year after I was eligible for my pension. Shift work was taking its toll. I worked three 12 hour night shifts in a row and had five nights off. By the time I retired it was taking me those five nights to recover from the three I'd just worked.
I don't know the answer, the only thing I suggest is looking for another job with better hours. I know it's daunting at our age, but there must be something better out there. My sister got a new job at 59.

It is sad grannydee that at sixty you are not able to get your state pension and top up if need be with a little part time work.

I feel your pain as I will also have to wait another 6+years.

I wish I could add something more constructive

One of my workplaces gave us a mixture of long days, earlies, lates, nights and split shifts.
All jumbled up, so that your system didn't know what to do.
Then they had the cheek to be angry when we complained, as if we were awkward little children.

My D is heading that way and doing shifts. She starts at 5am on her day duties and finishes at 5pm. She's also known to have worked regularly without a day off.
Why ? Because the place is short staffed and nobody is prepared to do a 5am start---particularly the young ones who enjoy their party weekends.
What motivates her ? A mortgage to pay and the usual bills as well as the fact that an unsociable job as it is, it's a secure one. Work and bed is her life.

grannydee123, you say you work 12 hour shifts. What kind of work do you do and how many shifts a wee? Is there any flexibility built into your work pattern?

Oh you poor thing.
I didn't mind shift work as it was quite convenient to have time off during the week, but it does play havoc with you in the end, I think.