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Retirement Age Should Be Raised

Should the state retirement age be raised?

All the Yes points:

  1. Too low an age of retirement damages economic efficiency, and thus decreases individual and national…
  2. The current retirement age is anachronistic; designed to cater for a very different time and job mar…
  3. The types of jobs that the majority of the population in developed countries hold have changed: phys…
  4. An aging population is not necessarily a less healthy one. The quality of life of a person in their…
  5. The state cannot coerce the age of retirement with regard to private companies, but it can influe…
  6. A high quality of life after retirement is now expected by many pensioners. As insurance and liv…
  7. As more of the population enter university, and increasingly undertake postgraduate qualifications, …

All the No points:

Too low an age of retirement damages economic efficiency, and thus decreases individual and national…

Yes because…

Too low an age of retirement damages economic efficiency, and thus decreases individual and national prosperity. The demographic timebomb means that the state simply cannot sustain spending on pensions and healthcare for an aging population without frightening high levels of taxation.

No because…

Decreases in national wealth, and economic inefficiency, are not merely caused by an aging population. Improving national prosperity comes from shifting from a manufacturing to services economy, and from improved technology, education and training, not merely employing people longer.

The current retirement age is anachronistic; designed to cater for a very different time and job mar…

Yes because…

The current retirement age is anachronistic; designed to cater for a very different time and job market, when people could be expected to die only a few years after retirement. Not only have expectations of career paths changed, but the shrinking size of state intervention has also shifted expectations away from the era of welfare state pensions.

No because…

Even a minimalist state must still be recognised to have a duty of care to its citizens. Those currently nearing the age of retirement do, and rightly do, still have the expectation of a state safety net rather than private pension schemes.

The types of jobs that the majority of the population in developed countries hold have changed: phys…

Yes because…

The types of jobs that the majority of the population in developed countries hold have changed: physical strength is now less necessary, so one’s working age becomes extended. Some companies are increasingly seeing the advantages of recruiting older workers: they are experienced, more reliable and responsible, and less likely to quit after only a short time.

No because…

Many jobs are still blue rather than white collar forms of employment. In such cases, there are still significant physical demands on employees, which older workers may not be able to cope with. Such demands are even increasing, e.g. in the form of travel, in an era of globalisation. Slower reaction times and lapses in memory could make older workers dangerous to themselves and others in some areas of employment.

An aging population is not necessarily a less healthy one. The quality of life of a person in their…

Yes because…

An aging population is not necessarily a less healthy one. The quality of life of a person in their sixties is now such as to allow them to continue working longer. As the effective retirement age is often several years lower than the official one, raising the official age would maintain higher rates of employment for those in their fifties and sixties.

No because…

Early retirement is often an alternative term for forced redundancy. There is still a climate of ageism in the job market, with older job seekers less likely to be readily employed, either due to higher pension costs, or to ingrained perceptions about ease of retraining. Raising the official retirement age will remain a paper solution unless cultural expectations alter.

The state cannot coerce the age of retirement with regard to private companies, but it can influe…

Yes because…

. The state cannot coerce the age of retirement with regard to private companies, but it can influence the expected age, for the state age of retirement sets an informal benchmark for the private sector.

No because…

Vast proportions of the population are employed by private companies with their own rules on retirement ages. Especially after the privatisations of the 1980s, the state retirement age has remarkably little impact on the workforce as a whole.

A high quality of life after retirement is now expected by many pensioners. As insurance and liv…

Yes because…

. A high quality of life after retirement is now expected by many pensioners. As insurance and living costs rise, a longer working age is necessary to maintain the same level of pension contributions.

No because…

Quality of life cannot be measured in merely monetary terms. It is wrong that people should spend the entirety of their active healthy lives working – they should be able to retire with a period of time to enjoy the benefits of better healthcare and relaxation.

As more of the population enter university, and increasingly undertake postgraduate qualifications, …

Yes because…

As more of the population enter university, and increasingly undertake postgraduate qualifications, the age at which a person’s working life begins becomes later. Precisely because changes are so long in taking effect, action must be taken now. To maintain the same level of (increasingly private) pension contributions, it is logical for this demographic cohort to stay in work later in life.

No because…

Such a view is accurate, but only with regard to recent demographic cohorts and for those who do delay starting work in this way. Any alteration to pensions systems has to be carried out long in advance of demographic pressures; the proposition’s solution is too little too late.

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