Are you afraid of getting old?
Older workers in a climate of skills shortages
Finance is far from forthcoming for UK carers
Social networking and the over 50s
As we approach the end of 2007, the first full year that in my prime has existed, it is worth reflecting a little on the state of play in the over-50s arena. The demographics are obvious and irrefutable, the world over. On the one hand, people are living longer and, on the other, we are reaching a point where that great population wave, the “baby boomers” are approaching retirement and leaving the employment field without the requisite replacements from the younger generations coming through. Gradually governments and individuals are taking in the consequences of increased life expectancy. Organisations, with the notable exception of pension provision, are adapting much more slowly.
We are also beginning to see social networking sites for the over 50s developing. We are seeing newspaper and magazine articles lauding the over 50s and we are seeing products and advertising geared to those over 50. We are also seeing, heaven forbid, marketing executives realising that being 50 is a whole load different from being 80.
All these things are happening. Unfortunately only slowly is the workplace changing – but here too, change must come. We live in interesting times!
In the meantime, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Primetastic New Year!
At the end of October we were delighted to be approached by BBC Radio Solent to take part in their breakfast show discussion about fears of getting old. The question was “Should people be afraid of getting old?” Frankly it was a question that had never occurred to us, and as our responses to their questions show (reproduced below) we firmly believe the answer is NO! Do you agree with our conclusions? We’d be interested in your views and whether you feel we missed some vital perspective. Click here to contact us.
BBC: IS 'GETTING OLD' A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE THESE DAYS THAN IT USED TO BE?
Yes - absolutely. People are living much longer than ever before, so we now have the emergence of a new generation of 50 to 70 year olds who may be thought of as 'old' by young people !! but are in fact a very vibrant, powerful and dynamic generation with totally different needs and wants to the truly elderly who are, in fact, our parents' generation.
WHAT CAN PEOPLE LOOK FORWARD TO ABOUT GETTING OLD?
One of the biggest things in our society has to be having TIME and the freedom to do things at your own pace without the stress and pressure that most of us experience in our earlier lives. There's also generally a greater feeling of confidence and deeper insight into who you are and what you do and don't want.
SHOULD PEOPLE BE SCARED OF GETTING OLD?
No - not at all. It's a natural stage of life and a very enjoyable time in very many ways. Much of this idea about 'fearing old age' is driven by the cult of youth which is prevalent these days. We tend to forget that ageing has always happened and is a gradual process - it isn't a 'terrible' catastrophe that is going to suddenly overtake us.
WHY ARE PEOPLE AFRAID OF GETTING OLD?
In our experience most people aren't scared of getting old. They may not entirely welcome some aspects of it, for example some people may experience poverty and may suffer from ill-health, but that can be said of any age. Certainly with advances in medicine and better knowledge about health and finance we can take better control these days of possible outcomes, so there's nothing in particular we should be afraid of.
IN YOUR EXPERIENCE WHAT ARE THE MAIN FEARS?
Obviously the most common fears -as they are at any stage of life - are to do with the fundamentals, health and wealth. The problem is that none of us knows how long we are going to live for, so obviously we have to make sure our money lasts and we keep as fit as possible. Things are changing - for example, these days with Age Discrimination legislation people are able to work longer and many people want to for a wide variety of reasons, so 'retirement' is now less of a definite cut off point than it used to be.
WHAT CAN PEOPLE DO TO ENSURE THEIR TRANSITION FROM MIDDLE-AGE TO PENSIONABLE IS AS STRESS-FREE AS POSSIBLE?
terms of your medium to long-term planning. For many middle aged people these days, looking forward to the years between 50 and say 75 is a hugely positive thing. These Plan for it and manage it. It's not something that's going to go away unless, unfortunately, you die young!!! :) so it's just something to keep in mind in years, for most people, are in many ways the best of our lives.
AT WHAT AGE SHOULD PEOPLE START TO THINK ABOUT GETTING OLD?
Ideally, right from when they first start work in terms of this being the best time to start saving. But perhaps more realistically, your early thirties. But it's not about 'thinking about getting old' so much as managing your health and managing your finances so that you have the best chance of the best possible future ahead of you, whatever your age.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE ADAGE "YOU'RE ONLY AS OLD AS YOU FEEL"?
Absolutely true. Successful ageing is all about attitude. If you act old and think old and feel old, that's how other people will see you. Successful ageing is all about being positive, being open to new opportunities and believing the best is still to come. It's about looking forward, not looking back and believing that the best time of your life is now.. It's definitely NOT about clinging onto fading youth.
The Government has recently claimed that over the past 10 years well in excess of 2 million extra jobs have been created in Britain, providing “British jobs for British workers”. Coming at a time when the low birth rate means that there are fewer younger people entering the workforce, this ought to be good news at the older end of the population spectrum for those in their fifties and sixties who want to work on or who need to work on to provide an adequate retirement income. Backed up by the force of the Age Discrimination legislation this all should have been very positive for older workers.
And yet we still see entrenched ageist attitudes in organisations and countless examples of older, capable people being tossed on the employment scrap-heap or unable to find appropriate work. So who is filling these vacancies? It would appear that many of the new jobs created are going to those who have come from abroad to work here, a large number as a result of the enlargement of the European Union.
Precisely how many is the subject of fierce debate but it is at least 1.1 million. And all kinds of issues that arise from these revelations are now beginning to surface and move to the top of the political agenda. Are these workers here just to work and then return to their original countries or are they likely to stay and raise families putting pressure on an already stretched school, health and welfare infrastructure? Are they truly filling a skills vacuum or are they just a cheap way of getting work done, perhaps without adequate employee safeguards? Are they, in fact, taking only lower level jobs that home-grown workers would not be prepared to accept?
The answer is that we don’t really know. However, The Age and Employment Network (TAEN) argue that the migrant workforce is cushioning the impact of the skills shortage and that the UK is relying too heavily on them. More should be done to develop the existing older workforce. As reported in Personnel Today, TAEN claimed that despite 50- to 64-year-olds representing one-third of working-age people, just one-fifth were in employment, and only one in ten was enrolled on employer or government training programmes. The subject of how much immigration there should be is growing as an issue, not merely because of employment considerations but more because of the impact on the country as a whole in a huge variety of ways.
In some industries the skills shortage is already beginning to bite. For example, in engineering, firms are already developing more flexible ways to retain their older workers and some are encouraging employees to stay on past 65. In IT, despite being seen as “a young person’s game”, there is substantial debate taking place on how long that view is sustainable. Appropriate intellectual capital in areas such as these is difficult to create overnight. Hence, an industry by industry breakdown of barriers, based on commercial need, is likely to be one of the main drivers in promoting the cause of older workers. Ageism is very much entrenched in the workplace psyche.
Individuals themselves must also be more proactive and flexible. The reality is that, worldwide, life expectancy is increasing and most countries are planning to increase state retirement ages and to harmonise male and female retirement. People will just have to work longer to enjoy their later years. So staying energetic and motivated and being prepared to continue developing oneself will be pre-requisites to staying a force in the employment market. And it can no longer be assumed that people will retire at their most senior position. To some extent, the demise of final salary pension schemes is a help in this respect, as it allows for greater flexibility of job movement.
There is still a lot to be done on all fronts and, although the first year of ageism legislation has not provided much progress, the pressures for change continue to mount.
As many as 4 million carers in the UK could be on the brink of exhaustion. A recently released study reveals that there are currently up to 4 million Brits aged 50+ responsible for looking after an older relative or partner. Only 12% of these people receive carers' benefits of any kind and 1 in 3 work the same hours as they did before they took on the additional responsibilities of being a carer. This heartbreaking situation is having a serious impact on their health and all-round quality of life.
The research conducted by SAGA shows that a big part of the problem is the widespread confusion about what practical support is available. 4 in 5 people expect financial help, but only 1 in 10 receive it. A further 84% don't know what benefits are available to them, complicating the issue even more. What is clear is that such support is in high demand with 8 out of 10 respondents saying they would definitely use a support service if it was made available to them.
It's vitally important to resolve this issue quickly and alleviate the pressure on these maxed-out individuals. Nearly 9 in 10 carers said the lack of time to themselves was having a major impact on their lives. Unlike most employees who can expect weekends off, a minimum of 4 weeks holiday per year, and Bank Holidays, an estimated 400,000 carers never get a break. They carry out a role seven days a week, 365 days a year raising serious concerns about the physical and mental burdens they have to endure.
Emma Soames, Editor of Saga Magazine, said: "These results are not only shocking, they're heartbreaking. They show just how much pressure today's carers are under, not just financially but emotionally and physically - they need help and support which is either not forthcoming at all, or is so elusive they don't know where to find it. Carers not only provide essential support for their loved ones, they also give a valuable service that saves the taxpayer billions every year it's vital they get the support they deserve."
For more information visit www.saga.co.uk/health
“Under the login text boxes there are three links:
I have forgotten my user id
I have forgotten my password
Now, what did I come in here for?”
Ho! Ho! Ho!
The past couple of months has seen a lot of media activity, in newspapers and online, with regard to the enfranchisement of the over 50s into the world of social networking. The main driver for this interest has been the formal rollout of the Saga backed site, “Saga Zone” in a blaze of publicity. However, there are others, such as one initiated by the Department of Works and Pensions (DWP), called “generationXperience” which hopes to provide a forum for the public to feed back to government on issues related to the older generation(s).
The received wisdom is that the major sites such as MySpace or Facebook are really for youngsters and that, therefore, dedicated sites are required for the over 50s. So how do they fit in with in my prime thinking? Here we provide an initial view which we will refine over the coming months. We see these kinds of sites as, eventually, having a very important function. We just don’t see the appropriate sites existing at the moment.
Let’s take Saga Zone first.
Although it seems to provide a great deal of satisfaction for a great number of people, technically it is not very sophisticated. It is limited in options, quite difficult to navigate and prone to being very slow or not functioning at all. It appears to be dominated by relatively few people who seem to believe that they are knowledgeable and witty in all manner of areas and are acting as gatekeepers to the site and, although the term “social networking” in computing terms is very broad, the content of this site takes a very limited view of the word social. Once we move on from banal chit-chat and old folks’ jokes or Tommy Cooper jokes (“You don’t say abracadabra to me anymore – I think the magic has gone out of our relationship”) there is not a lot of substance left. It is obvious from the reaction of some visitors to the site that they are looking for something more but have not found it here.
This may not bother Saga Zone or its most loyal members. On the one hand the site provides a high profile shop window for Saga. On the other hand, Saga can be seen to be assisting older people in becoming internet literate and in finding interests and social activities which might otherwise be denied them, particularly as they become less mobile. We shall have to see if the novelty wears off or, if it doesn’t, whether Saga or other sites can provide similar functions in a more user friendly and comprehensive fashion. There are already other sites, such as Link Fifty, which may not have received the same attention but which are certainly as good, if not better, from a technical point of view.
These then provide the basic blueprint but, as you might expect, fragmentation or specialisation is already taking place. One such organisation, launched at the same time as Saga Zone, is MyChumsClub. This is a social network which perhaps sees itself as rather more refined and elitist, catering for business and professional people. There is an annual subscription of £50 and applications for membership have to be approved by the management before individuals are allowed in.
In a totally different vein, the DWP has also launched a site called generationXperience amid aspirational statements from Mike O’Brien, Minister of State for Pensions Reform. So far, the only thing that can be said about the launch is that it was extremely low key. This, coupled with a rather cumbersome name, little movement on the site to date and difficult navigation logistics, means it has so far been rather underwhelming in its content and impact. Although described by some commentators as a social networking site, it is really a mechanism to feed back to government views and opinions relating to the concerns of the older population and possibly to elicit some governmental response. As we have said there is so far little activity on the site and what there has been consists of something of a rant. But we will be “watching this space” with anticipation.
Accompanying these new initiatives has been other allied press coverage and comment and we will aim to summarise the overall messages for the benefit of in my primers.
We warmly welcome the advent of these developments but some of the comments about the older generation and computers have been extremely patronising. I know from first hand experience the trouble that some truly elderly people, brought up in the age of typewriters, have in mastering the technology with updates, virus alerts and spam peppering the screen and popping up without warning or explanation. However, many of those in the 50 to 70 age range have now been computer literate for many years and it comes as no surprise whatsoever that they are totally at home with the technology. So much so, in fact, that one article declared the awful word “silversurfer” (generally relating to those over 55) as now obsolete. Those “in their prime” should see themselves as part of the mainstream web-savvy population, and a very important part too.
Secondly, if you haven’t realised already, social networking involves a large black hole in terms of time, ages can be spent on sites with very little overall long-term benefit. What we would like to see develop in the fullness of time are sites, or developments within existing sites, in which members can take part in serious, or at least generally serious, information exchange about business, health, employment, self-employment, personal finance, self-esteem and a host of major issues of concern to in my primers.
Lastly, it is worth reminding people that, in this headlong rush to socialise on the internet, they should ensure that they protect their privacy; from the possibility of internet fraud, identity theft and potentially embarrassing information being published or discovered. A site worth checking out in this respect is www.getsafeonline.org
This month's Prime Example is Clifford Allison. Not a success story yet but a vivid example of the kinds of issues which affect individuals at this age and the heart searching they must undertake to find their way. We wish him good luck on his venture.
"As a lawyer coming to retirement I have decided to try to break into acting. This is pretty tough and I may not make it, but who knows unless I try? It's a great truth that, in latter years one comes to regret what one has NOT done, rather than what one has!
Now aged 55 and a barrister, I have worked in Government for 22 years and wish they would enforce the anti-ageism legislation with a fraction of the zeal devoted to the smoking ban. It’s easy to get around the anti-ageism legislation. In recruiting, for example, you merely set the criteria as “post qualification experience”, rather than age. This device neatly filters out all but the very few mature applicants who have qualified late.
I believe I have been the subject of serial bullying in the workplace now for two years Whether or not my perception is correct is not really the point (though I’m sure it is); the big factor is that I feel it to be so. My health has naturally suffered so I am now off sick with depression (again). I’m using this time to try to develop a career in writing and acting, which I’ve always fancied. I’ve started writing an autobiography, been recruited by a murder mystery company, done some photoshoots and auditions and signed up with agencies. Agencies are however a mixed bag and I’ve yet to decide whether or not I’ve been conned.
This is tough and unusual but it seems worth a try whilst I have the cushion of sick pay and the psychiatrist (yes, it’s that bad) thoroughly approves. She (of course!) says that I am not mad because my depression is externally induced and entirely work related. I am not clinically depressed, which is caused by chemical imbalances in the brain, rather than by external factors. I’m fine as long as I go nowhere near the office. In short, I love my work but not my job (these days), if that makes sense.
At the end of the day I am sure that retrospective regrets stem more from what one did NOT do when one had the chance, rather than what one did do. So I’ve decided it's time for me to try to be originally creative. One can certainly be creative as a lawyer but it always seems to be on the back of the suffering of others. So the spinners are out to try to find acting work. I hope it’s not too late for me; but there’s no time like the present to address those potential regrets! Please wish me luck as I embark on this hazardous course, which I should have done years ago! "
To read about other Prime Examples click here.
I've finished so I'll start - the essential guide to the start of a brilliant new era.
By Stephen Howarth and John Houghton, Published by Management Books 2000 Ltd, 2007. ISBN: 9781852525392
"Half of our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save" - Will Rogers
That quotation, which appears at the end of chapter 4, Don't worry be happy, pretty much summarises what this book is about. How do we make the most of our retirement years and what is the best way to fill our days and spend our money when the world as we have known it (i.e. the world of work) no longer exists? Although, obviously, no one can have all the answers or can cover all possible scenarios, this nevertheless is a handy reminder of the reality of retirement today and the huge impact it has on our individual lives.
Billed as 'a down-to-earth look at the opportunities and the hazards facing existing and prospective retirees', I've finished so I'll start provides a comprehensive insight into the nature and meaning of working life, the opportunities and challenges posed by retirement and the need to take a positive approach to managing your daily life and your future - including managing change. Not only is it full of useful insights and information but it also includes some thought-provoking practical exercises to help you focus and take stock.
The authors are reassuringly realistic and authoritative, with first hand experience of their subject matter; the only slight criticism being that theirs is, by definition, a rather male-centred approach and some of what they say may fail to reflect adequately the facts and feelings of female retirees. This aside, as a wry and entertaining look at the reality of this life stage, this is both an easy and enjoyable read and a handy reminder of many of the things we need to think about in the in my prime years. Whether you're coming up to retirement or already retired, it should go on your 'must read' list. Alternatively it would make a great gift for a family member, colleague or friend.