COLETTE DOUGLAS HOME
Work can be a gift and it should not be taken away by age
ONE of my lasting memories of my father is coming upon him standing staring out of a window clenching and unclenching his fists, looking like a bear in a trap. He’d just been told that for health reasons he must retire.
I would have the same reaction. My brother, who was 20 years older than me, worked until he was 76. When one career came to an end he started another. When that also ended he started teaching English as a foreign language in Madrid and then in Addis Ababa. It beat playing bowls.
People stay healthier and feel happier if they work beyond retirement, according to a survey conducted by the right-wing thinktank, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).
I’m sure they do if they enjoy their job. But should the concept of a “normal retirement age” be abolished? That’s the recommendation from Edward Datnow of the Age Endeavour Fellowship who co-authored the survey.
With the Government already planning to raise the state pension age, the thought will send a shiver down many spines. A limitless work life would take us back to Dickensian times. It’s a frightening prospect for manual workers and a life sentence for those whose jobs are a matter of endurance.
The IEA’s findings chime a little too comfortably with the economic demands of the day. And yet I must admit there is truth in what they say. They found that retirement triggered a short-term rise in wellbeing, after which rates of depression rose by 40% and physical illnesses went up by 60%.
Well, people are getting older, you might think. But the figures were measured against a control group of similar age who carried on working.
Personally I can understand why that would happen. I took 10 years out of paid employment when my children were small. It taught me a lesson. I felt as if I had fallen off the planet. I missed the stimulation and companionship of work and I missed having an independent income.
I can see that being able to carry on working will be an unexpected blessing for many. But it must remain a choice.
I think we convince ourselves that work is a yoke and a burden while leisure is to be craved. Really it is the other way about, or a balance of both.
There is a passage in The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran which says: “You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.
“For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons and to step out of life’s procession.”
His writing is too flowery for today’s taste (it was first published in 1926) but there’s still contemporary truth in what he says.
When you’re unemployed you watch with envy the swell of people thronging into towns and cities in the early morning and wish you could join them. At least, I do. And I know my father did too.
Work seasons leisure the way salt seasons food. It’s wonderful to lie
Why would they want to be ousted from an enjoyable career when they are still full of energy and ideas?
baking on a sunny beach for half a day or spend a weekend visiting art galleries in a new city or travel across an unexplored country for a month. But unlimited, empty leisure can become a form of torture, even for those with money. Some retirees only discover that once they have burned their employment boats.
I remember talking to a woman who had all the time in the world and trouble killing it. She said how marvellous it would be to have two houses because it would require a day to close one down, another day to pack and a third to travel. Then, on arrival, two further days would be taken up unpacking and settling in.
It’s only when people reach the age of 60 that they realise it feels like 40. Why would they want to be ousted from an enjoyable career when they are still full of energy and ideas?
Take a look at those who can afford to twiddle their thumbs through several lifetimes and what do we see? Has Rupert Murdoch hung up his briefcase? Is Warren Buffett planning long cruises? Has JK Rowling mothballed her pen? People think the Queen continues to reign out of a profound sense of duty. Maybe they’re right. But I bet she knows she would miss the weekly conference with her Prime Minister, the red boxes, the purposefulness of being at the beating heart of her country’s affairs.
We see Shirley Williams and Denis Healey still effective and alert at 80 and 90. Octogenarian journalists Joan Bakewell and Katharine Whitehorn still have strong, wise voices. Esther Rantzen’s campaigning zeal hasn’t dimmed in her 70s. There’s a whole world of unknowns over 60 who have started businesses or taken up apprenticeships. They’ve opted for reinvention over retirement.
I understand why. We all know the paradox of whole days whipping past when we are running at a deadline while seconds crawl when we are under-occupied.
For many people, work is a gift. As they grow older they prepare for new careers that will take them into their 60s, 70s and 80s. They go to university or take new qualifications, as my brother did. But before we back any move to make one rule for all, we have to stop and acknowledge that they are the lucky ones.
Not everyone has a job that offers variety, interest and a certain lifestyle. Not everyone occupies warm and comfortable offices. And even among those who do, the pressure can become too much. Not everyone is well enough to carry on indefinitely.
I’ve known schoolteachers who were burned out before they were 60. There will be nurses worn down by shift work, factory workers deadened by routine and waiters who can’t stand it any longer. There are people doing two jobs to make ends meet. They have contributed all their working life to the promise of some years to call their own. If asked, they will risk feeling bored and depressed just to be their own master.
A settled retirement age and a guaranteed pension offers them opportunity. They can use the time and the income to do nothing – or they can re-enter the world in a different guise.
There’s already an army of them volunteering for charities. It is work. It offers the perks of companionship and in place of income is the satisfaction of having done someone a good turn.
It comes down to freedom of choice – something no government should erode. After three or four decades of work, everyone has earned the right to have it.