I read an interesting paper about the future of work and
retirement that at one point said "It is a difficult thing to say but
my conclusion is that retirement should be abolished. It should be abolished in
tandem with the major transformations of what constitutes work and employment
now taking place in the technology-driven world of work of the twenty-first
century."
The author argues “that the divide between working life
and retirement is equally an artificial one that has lost relevance in
post-industrial society.”
The premise is that all of us live in a “post-industrial
society” which is not true. Many of us still work manual jobs that take their
toll on us. The attack on unionized jobs by corporations, libertarian and
others over the years have made many worksites unsafe and harder for workers
There are forces over which we have no control in our
working lives, factors such as technological advances, and other unpredictable events
which change our jobs and because there is the emphasis on the individual, it
is up to us to figure out how to adapt and change. Support for individuals
facing change may be available but it appears always at the employers advantage.
As employers and government have shifted the responsibility of caring for oneself
as we age from themselves to the workers, we are seeing more seniors in
poverty.
Some would argue that there have always been peaks and
troughs in people’s working lives related to raising children, ill-health and
disability, and caring, as well as educational activities. Ongoing employment
into later life will emerge as a possibility that workers are faced with,
because we have not built safeguards into our system.
Pensions used to be a vehicle for workers to provide themselves
and their families when they could no longer work. Starting in the 80’s and the
rise of liberalism and libertarianism that changed. Over the years we have
slowly adapted the idea that the individual is responsible for themselves when
they are retired. This worked when prices were rising slowly, and inflation was
in check. Now with inflation rising, stocks plummeting, and pensions being
taxed higher, those who have retried are caught in a perfect storm. To pay the
rent, or mortgage and feed themselves they have to go back to work and the
authors argument that there is an artificial divide between work and retirement
is going to come true.
