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The have-it-all generation has to be told when to quit The have-it-all generation has to be told when to quit
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No one is ever old in their own heads. There may be fleeting moments of self-recognition – the inward flinch at the thought of wearing heels, the choice of bodyboarding over learning to kite surf, or looking at the snow and instead of thinking about sledging, wondering about falling. Otherwise, 60 is the new 40, first-time mothers in their 50s are pushing swings in many a playground, and there is a category in the ironman world championship for any woman between the ages of 70 and 74 who enjoys extreme cycling, swimming and marathon running.No one is ever old in their own heads. There may be fleeting moments of self-recognition – the inward flinch at the thought of wearing heels, the choice of bodyboarding over learning to kite surf, or looking at the snow and instead of thinking about sledging, wondering about falling. Otherwise, 60 is the new 40, first-time mothers in their 50s are pushing swings in many a playground, and there is a category in the ironman world championship for any woman between the ages of 70 and 74 who enjoys extreme cycling, swimming and marathon running.
There’s nothing new about acting as old as you feel, except that it has suddenly become universally acceptable. A generation ago, marriage was the launchpad into the life of the middle-aged. Where now women in their 60s wear their children’s clothes, then women in their 40s adopted their mothers’ wardrobes. Getting old was respectable, and living in denial was looked on with pity. For these new gerontocrats, living into their 80s and 90s has come as a surprise and not necessarily a good one. There’s nothing new about acting as old as you feel, except that it has suddenly become universally acceptable. A generation ago, marriage was the launchpad into the life of the middle-aged. Where now women in their 60s wear their children’s clothes, then women in their 40s adopted their mothers’ wardrobes. Getting old was respectable, and living in denial was looked on with pity. For these new gerontocrats, living into their 80s and 90s has come as a surprise and not necessarily a good one.
But their children have money to spend, and the health to enjoy it. It was only a matter of time before not being old became government policy. It is the mission of Ros Altmann, the pensions specialist who has just been appointed as the older workers’ champion at the Department for Work and Pensions, to put people off taking their pensions for as long as possible. She wants everyone to work for as long as there is someone willing to pay them. Then they should start their own business.But their children have money to spend, and the health to enjoy it. It was only a matter of time before not being old became government policy. It is the mission of Ros Altmann, the pensions specialist who has just been appointed as the older workers’ champion at the Department for Work and Pensions, to put people off taking their pensions for as long as possible. She wants everyone to work for as long as there is someone willing to pay them. Then they should start their own business.
This is a response to the panic about the burden imposed on the state by too many citizens’ actuarially stressful failure to die, having already failed to secure the future by having too few children to support an ageing population. The ratio of young people to old is moving rather smartly in the wrong direction. But tackling the problems that creates involves a more complicated balance than it seems at first.This is a response to the panic about the burden imposed on the state by too many citizens’ actuarially stressful failure to die, having already failed to secure the future by having too few children to support an ageing population. The ratio of young people to old is moving rather smartly in the wrong direction. But tackling the problems that creates involves a more complicated balance than it seems at first.
The state pensionable age is climbing, slowly but relentlessly. By 2018, women will, like men, not be eligible for a state pension until they are 65. After that the goalposts move for both men and women together, so that by 2044 they will have to work until they are 68. The effect of the changes, which have been creeping in since 2010, is to hold the ratio of pensioners to working-age population at around 30% until the 2040s, at which point something else may have turned up – preferably not the elixir of eternal youth.The state pensionable age is climbing, slowly but relentlessly. By 2018, women will, like men, not be eligible for a state pension until they are 65. After that the goalposts move for both men and women together, so that by 2044 they will have to work until they are 68. The effect of the changes, which have been creeping in since 2010, is to hold the ratio of pensioners to working-age population at around 30% until the 2040s, at which point something else may have turned up – preferably not the elixir of eternal youth.
This is what is causing the real crisis in the welfare state. But, as older voters can be relied on to vote, tackling the politics of pensions has to be done more by stealth. Consequently, the real cuts fall on the small minority of other benefit claimants, and if universal credit ever actually comes in it is likely to exacerbate what is intergenerational unfairness in a particularly damaging way.This is what is causing the real crisis in the welfare state. But, as older voters can be relied on to vote, tackling the politics of pensions has to be done more by stealth. Consequently, the real cuts fall on the small minority of other benefit claimants, and if universal credit ever actually comes in it is likely to exacerbate what is intergenerational unfairness in a particularly damaging way.
Even if the objective of getting everyone of working age enrolled in a responsive, dynamic system that guarantees an income to all at a decent and sustainable level comes off – in terms of probability, this is up there with the elixir of eternal youth – it is still almost certain to be pensioners who will be absorbing at least two-thirds of everything that the government spends on benefits. Nor do the demands of the elderly on the state stop at pensions. It is the cost to the health service as well. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s projections, in 50 years’ time the cost of looking after the old will take 3% more of GDP than it does now.Even if the objective of getting everyone of working age enrolled in a responsive, dynamic system that guarantees an income to all at a decent and sustainable level comes off – in terms of probability, this is up there with the elixir of eternal youth – it is still almost certain to be pensioners who will be absorbing at least two-thirds of everything that the government spends on benefits. Nor do the demands of the elderly on the state stop at pensions. It is the cost to the health service as well. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s projections, in 50 years’ time the cost of looking after the old will take 3% more of GDP than it does now.
Redefining what is old may seem the obvious place to start. It is easy to see why the fit and the well-paid should stay at work. It is rather harder to make the case for those who have toiled for a lifetime in low-paid jobs. It is fair to ask workers to pay for pensioners, but it is unfair to ask workers to pay for pensioners whose assets far outstrip theirs. And it is equally unfair if good jobs are occupied by people who could afford to retire. Redefining what is old may seem the obvious place to start. It is easy to see why the fit and the well-paid should stay at work. It is rather harder to make the case for those who have toiled for a lifetime in low-paid jobs. It is fair to ask workers to pay for pensioners, but it is unfair to ask workers to pay for pensioners whose assets far outstrip theirs. And it is equally unfair if good jobs are occupied by people who could afford to retire.
If it would be foolish to deny the problem, it would be heartless not to acknowledge that for thousands of people who have reached state pensionable age, stopping work is an unpalatable option. For some it is a simple question of income. And even for people lucky enough to have decent pensions, it is tough to stop work and give up all the good bits that go with it – and all the harder when work has become the lens through which we are seen.If it would be foolish to deny the problem, it would be heartless not to acknowledge that for thousands of people who have reached state pensionable age, stopping work is an unpalatable option. For some it is a simple question of income. And even for people lucky enough to have decent pensions, it is tough to stop work and give up all the good bits that go with it – and all the harder when work has become the lens through which we are seen.
But think again. This looks to me suspiciously as if the having-it-all generation, just as it ought to be preparing to bow out, is greedily lining up to have a bit more. These are the people born between 1946 and 1964. That really was like winning the first prize in life. Free university, the housing boom, the Pill, the explosion in white-collar jobs and pensions – for a majority, that has been a golden ticket to a life of unparalleled good fortune. But think again. This looks to me suspiciously as if the having-it-all generation, just as it ought to be preparing to bow out, is greedily lining up to have a bit more. These are the people born between 1946 and 1964. That really was like winning the first prize in life. Free university, the housing boom, the Pill, the explosion in white-collar jobs and pensions – for a majority, that has been a golden ticket to a life of unparalleled good fortune.
Their children have not quite inherited a wasteland. It just feels like that to them (at least early in the morning), chasing scarce jobs, too poor to leave home, burdened with what looks as if it will be a lifelong debt for a degree that seems to be doing them no good. No wonder they drink so enthusiastically – alcohol is the only thing that’s cheaper for them than it was for their parents.Their children have not quite inherited a wasteland. It just feels like that to them (at least early in the morning), chasing scarce jobs, too poor to leave home, burdened with what looks as if it will be a lifelong debt for a degree that seems to be doing them no good. No wonder they drink so enthusiastically – alcohol is the only thing that’s cheaper for them than it was for their parents.
Where pensioner incomes grew by 50% in real terms in the 15 years from 1994, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found that the under-30s have borne the brunt of the recession. The last thing they need now is a generation that refuses to acknowledge that it is growing old, a thick strata of privilege, desk-blocking new talent, better ideas, fresh approaches, mainly interested in funding a three-holidays-a-year habit and looking forward to the next chance to romp across the beach to the breaking surf, imagining themselves as lithe and toned as they were in their 20s. Where pensioner incomes grew by 50% in real terms in the 15 years from 1994, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found that the under-30s have borne the brunt of the recession. The last thing they need now is a generation that refuses to acknowledge that it is growing old, a thick stratum of privilege, desk-blocking new talent, better ideas, fresh approaches, mainly interested in funding a three-holidays-a-year habit and looking forward to the next chance to romp across the beach to the breaking surf, imagining themselves as lithe and toned as they were in their 20s.
Telling sixtysomethings to stay at work is an appeal to self-indulgence that risks becoming one more way of embedding inequality. People with good jobs, professional and managerial, will keep them. But teachers, or those who do hard manual work, will not. Being a bin operative may have compensations, but they would have to be pretty good to overcome rain, cold and evil dogs.Telling sixtysomethings to stay at work is an appeal to self-indulgence that risks becoming one more way of embedding inequality. People with good jobs, professional and managerial, will keep them. But teachers, or those who do hard manual work, will not. Being a bin operative may have compensations, but they would have to be pretty good to overcome rain, cold and evil dogs.
So here is the bad news. You are not as old as you feel. You are as old as it says on your birth certificate. And if you want the next generation to look after you later, you need to look after them now.So here is the bad news. You are not as old as you feel. You are as old as it says on your birth certificate. And if you want the next generation to look after you later, you need to look after them now.
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