October 2007: <<< back to Downloads
The reality of Age Discrimination - one year on
Human rights in an ageing world
It's never too late to...cancel Christmas
Book of the month - solve a tricky Christmas gift problem
Last week marked the twentieth anniversary of what the media has billed “Britain’s biggest storm”. If you were in the country, you will hardly need reminding that on October 16th 1987 the greatest storm for 300 years raged across the country causing numerous casualties and extensive damage to the landscape. Today, many parks, gardens, and rural settlements still lament the trees that were lost on that night, changing the appearance of the countryside irrevocably.
Recently we have been investigating the loss of corporate knowledge that occurs when older workers leave companies, either through retirement or redundancy. The result seems, in many ways, to echo what happened when those trees were suddenly torn out. In many cases, there is a loss of stability, strength, and of a sense of constancy amongst the workers who remain. Unfortunately many employers fail to realise this until it is too late and they find themselves trying to fill the gaps their steadfast older employees once occupied. Only then do they realise that, as with trees, you cannot suddenly ‘grow’ experience, loyalty and commitment overnight.
As in nature, the very best environment is made up of a combination of youth and maturity, growth and stability. We hope that more employers recognise this when making choices about their workforce for the future and equally we encourage those who are in their prime to support them by being flexible and resilient when necessary in the face of turbulent change.
A world of in my primers
As we put together our latest newsletter and contemplate the traffic jams around London we are well aware that in my prime is very much focused on what is happening in the UK and that our readers are mainly UK based. Yes, we’ve had the odd smattering of visits and subscribers from around the globe but very much the exception rather than the rule. It is, therefore, very pleasing to see just recently a large upsurge in the number of people visiting the site and, furthermore, joining our regular reading list. In particular, we’d like to welcome all those from the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand who are now seeing what we have to offer. However, our readership is not at all restricted to English speaking countries with obvious cultural and historical ties and we are now in correspondence with people from just about every continent.
So welcome to you all and please do tell your friends.
And now a few serious points which underpin what we are trying to do.
First of all it is quite apparent, and becoming more so daily, that issues surrounding ageing and living longer are with us right now, are beginning to dominate both individual and collective thinking and are truly of global proportions. The issues are very similar wherever you may be and no country is immune from the consequences.
Second, isn’t technology wonderful? Here at in my prime we have deliberately built a web-based approach for the very reason that it is quick, cheap and readily accessible to the world at large over huge distances. Although we must obviously be preaching to the converted, it is essential that we, in the second halves of our lives, continue to embrace technology with all it has to offer. Not only does it transcend boundaries but it allows those who are geographically remote to share ideas and stay fully up to speed with what’s happening internationally.
And this brings us neatly to the third point. It is all too easy sometimes to believe that we are the only person on the whole planet with a particular problem. Everyone else is living life straight out of a glossy magazine. Nothing could be further from the truth and we hope that by sharing insights, experiences and wisdom we can all be better for it. We look forward to hearing from you.
There are many organisations and websites now springing up around the world for the ‘over-50s’ whether for social networking, dating, finding employment, online shopping or a host of other things. We welcome them all (well, most of them!). It shows just how increasingly influential and relevant our section of the population is coming to be seen. What we are trying to do, here, is slightly different. In a user-friendly fashion, we hope to keep you thinking fully and positively about your life and life’s options, wherever you may be heading.
The first anniversary of the introduction of Age Discrimination legislation in the UK has come and gone and despite most employers taking steps to comply, reality is still somewhat different from what we might hope. It is never easy to deal with redundancy or losing your job at any age but once you turn fifty it becomes more and more difficult to find new employment. The same applies to anyone wishing to re-enter the employment market for whatever reason or to seek a career change or new direction - once you reach fifty, if not before, suitable opportunities seem to dry up. And yet, in terms of family and financial responsibilities and pressures, these are likely to be at least as acute and demanding as at any other age. So it can be a very depressing, frustrating and confidence-sapping time. And here, at in my prime, we are receiving an increasing number of requests for advice and support.
David Watts, one of our subscribers, is in such a position regarding employment and is writing a blog of his thoughts and experiences which we have posted on our website. He comments, “Redundancy is rarely a welcome event. It throws your whole life out of kilter, brings money problems, can deeply upset the family and cause agonies of despair as organisation after organisation either fails to even respond to job applications or sends out standard ‘got lots better applicants than you’ letters. Get to your 50's and the received wisdom is that you have no chance. Or do you? My blog records my 4th redundancy and how I intend to overcome yet another of life's challenges”.
Click here to read his experiences and note that he would very much welcome debate and comment from others in a similar predicament. We’d welcome your feedback, advice and tips also so we can share them with others.
We are honoured to have had some of our views included in a major new report Older Workers in Wales from The Wales Management Council – an employer-led body which promotes the development of Managers in Wales, and Age Concern Cymru.
The report was published to coincide with the first anniversary of the Age Discrimination Act and reveals that only 46% of men in Wales aged between 55 and 59 and 26% aged 60-65 are still employed, compared to equivalent English figures of 68% and 41% respectively. It predicts that by 2011 there will be only one young person entering the workforce for every three jobs available. Whilst the arrival of large numbers of migrant workers from Eastern Europe would help fill this gap, it predicts that there will still be a huge demand for more older people in the workforce.
We were delighted to have been approached by Christopher Ward, Chief Executive of the Wales Management Council who wished to include text from some of our articles to support his arguments. More information about the report, can be accessed at www.walesmanagementcouncil.org.uk
The report concludes that more people working past the official retirement age would boost the economy in Wales but warns that employers need to shed negative attitudes towards these workers if they are to capitalise on this reservoir of talent.
Click here to see some of our other articles published this month.
Human rights in an ageing world
This month we were privileged to attend a conference in London entitled “Human Rights in an Ageing World” organised by the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC-UK) - an independent, non-partisan think-tank dedicated to addressing issues of longevity, ageing and population change. The conference brought together equivalent ILC organisations from around the world with keynote speakers including Michael Wills, Minister of State for the Ministry of Justice and Trevor Philips, Chair of the Commission on Equality and Human Rights.
Globally, attitudes towards human rights, together with appropriate accompanying legislation, have a long way to go in many arenas, but possibly nowhere more so than as they apply to older people. With the demographic landscape changing so rapidly all over the world, there are major concerns in areas such as pensions, equality of opportunity, access to health and social care and so on. The signs are positive but there is still much to do.
Quite who fits into the category of “older person” is extremely vague and is, to a large extent, dependent on who is doing the classifying. It also depends on the life expectancy of the particular set of people under consideration. However, the protection that improved human rights might be expected to provide are summed up neatly in the acronym FREDA - Fairness, Respect, Equality, Dignity and Autonomy (the right to a private life).
For the truly “old” it is easy to see that as we become older we may become frail and vulnerable and we become less able to look after ourselves and protect ourselves. Disease, disability, dementia, poverty and a general invisibility or inconvenience to society at large puts us in a particularly parlous position. And so, we must look to others to protect us. As “in my primers” we would say that those particular years are some way away. However, becoming older is not a one-off event, it is a transition and in some areas such as employment, training, purchasing insurance etc our position is already less than equal and equality must be fought for. Furthermore, it is quite possible that we have elderly parents or relatives that we must care for and ensure that they live out their final years with all the rights that a human being of any age might expect.
So what is the message for those presently in their prime?
There are various things which can be done.
One is to make sure that we do “our bit” to ensure that those who currently need help get all the care and assistance they need. Another is to play our full part, while we are a serious force to be reckoned with, in the cultural and legislative changes that are necessary. And a third is to make sure that we are totally “au fait” with what is or is not available for us as we get older and that we flex our muscles accordingly. What we do, or fail to do, now will have an impact on the quality of the future for each of us.
It’s never too late to…cancel Christmas
A controversial theme this month but one we thought was worth introducing while you still have time to implement the idea – should you want to – before it is too late! One of the recognised advantages of being ‘in our prime’ is that generally we do have more freedom to do what we want in the way that we want in all sorts of areas of life.
Strange then that when it comes to Christmas we suddenly revert to type, ‘tradition’ takes over and we can find ourselves at the behest of family, friends and the community at large who expect us to ‘do’ Christmas in the way we’ve always done. Obviously no problem if that’s what you want and it makes you happy, but if you find yourself feeling increasingly resentful, stressed, put upon or even bored by the prospect then now’s the time to think through what you really want and make some changes.
Perhaps you fancy a week or two away in a tropical paradise, Christmas lunch out in a restaurant instead of wrestling with shopping, seating and serving, or just a day in bed drinking champagne, eating chocolates and reading a good book? We’re not advocating that any of them is the right answer (and we certainly don’t want to offend anyone’s religious views), all we’re suggesting is that you take the time to renegotiate with your loved ones and create a new way forward. One of our readers, Jane, with her husband, has spent the past few years helping out at a homeless shelter on Christmas Day and says they’re the best Christmases they could wish for. “We’ve now moved our family Christmas to Christmas Eve,” she says. “It works better all round now our children have partners as it means they don’t have to negotiate where to spend the day.”
As with many things in life, simply doing more of the same isn’t always the best approach. .
Apologies at the outset for a bit of flagrant self-promotion (but if you can’t do that in your own newsletter it’s a sorry thing). If your thoughts are vaguely starting to turn towards Christmas (see above) and you’re wrestling with the problem of what to buy as stocking fillers for your other half, token gifts for colleagues, neighbours or friends, or something different for assorted relatives who – like you – have it all, we have a suggestion to make.
Give them something original at least. Our book, Primetastic! – 50 tips for life when you’re over 50 is a treasure trove of practical, bite-sized, highly motivational tips to dip into over Christmas and build on at New Year’s Resolutions time. Feedback from those who’ve read it suggests that people love its accessibility, readability and ‘back to basics’ simplicity. For once, it’s not a book of ‘oldie’ jokes, nor is it a serious worthy tome about ageing. Rather it’s a simple, highly readable guide to making the most of what are – or can be - the best years of our lives. And – it’s only £7.99. Click here to order now.