Old folk kick away ladder
There’s every reason to keep working until we die: superannuation is being pushed back and aged care in NZ seems notoriously suckfull.
TO quote the late Rodney King: Can’t we all just get along?
New Zealand has several lines running through it that pit us against each other, as members of different tribes.
Aside from gender and culture, there is the divide between rural and urban, those who own a house and those who don’t, the generational gaps, and now there’s a brand new divide that didn’t exist before: people born before January 1, 1974 and those born after.
Under planned changes announced this week by Prime Minister Bill English, the later group will have to wait until they’re 67 to collect a pension. Even among that group there will be a subset of those born early enough in that period to collect a pension when they’re 66 or 661⁄
It’s a ballsy call to make in election year. It’s as brave as walking into a bear’s cave covered in honey, as they wake up hungry after hibernating all winter.
Perhaps it’s even braver, because it’s not just Bill English’s political fate at stake, but also those of his colleagues. If come November, National is kicked out of government, it could spell the end of the careers of the party’s more senior MPs.
Just as well for them, they were probably born before New Year’s Day, 1974. The policy of raising the pension age never worked for Labour: when they thought were being sensible and suggested it during the campaigns they lost. Bill English either knows something they don’t, or he and his party just think – stuff it, now’s a good a time as any to, lay down mise`re.
Or, he’s high. But that’s unlikely, so it’s probably just that National really backs itself.
The gnashing of teeth feels very emotive. As though the youngsters’ ire has been raised by what they perceive as another example of old folk kicking ladders away, after they’ve climbed up.
It’s sparked a war of words as opinion writers say mean things about the other generation, depending on which side January 1, 1974 they there were born on.
Still, it’s great so many people in the country are suddenly
‘ There is the divide between rural and urban, those who own a house and those who don’t, and now there’s a brand new divide: people born before January 1, 1974 and those born after.’
talking about what happens to you when you get older.
I’m fortunate to have a job that is mostly fairly gentle on the body and my plan is to try and keep doing stuff until I die. One of my main concerns about getting into my elderly years is getting decent care when I lose my marbles and have to go into a home.
This isn’t based on any scientific evidence of course, but aged care in New Zealand seems notoriously suckfull.
As well as argue about what age you can be to collect the pension, we could be talking more about how we can better care for the aged. Whatever side of whatever line you’re on, it’s something that should concern absolutely everyone because the main hope is – all going well – we get that far.