Do we or should we retire earlier than our parents did?

From the late 1970s until the mid-1990’s people were retiring earlier than the mandatory retirement age, in most countries. However according to a report by the OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) in 2011, (“Trends in Retirement and in Working at Older Ages”, in Pensions at a Glance 2011: Retirement-income Systems in OECD and G20 Countries, OECD Publishing, Paris.) this trend shifted

There was a strong trend to early retirement throughout the 1970s and 1980s. However, this came to an end in the mid-1990s, and during the 2000s, the proportion of 50-64 years old’s participating in the labour market started to creep

The long-term trend to earlier retirement came to an end for men in the mid-1990s and for women, slightly later. The average age of retirement was broadly constant for a few years, but there has been a noticeable trend to later retirement starting in the late ’90s.

The economic turndown of 2007 to 2009 did not affect older workers as much as was expected.  This contrasts with previous recessions, where older workers were often the first to lose their jobs and found it hardest to find new employment. The proportion of 55-64-year-olds in employment was constant between 2007 and 2009, compared with a decline of 1.7 percentage points in the share of 25-54-year-olds with jobs and 3.6 points for 20-24-year-olds. The proportion of 65-69-year-olds in employment, in fact, increased a little, from 21.1% in 2007 to 22.0% in 2009.

As Governments’ move to deal with the “retirement crises” they believe they are about to face, it is important to think about the fact that their long-term projections for public spending on pensions are based on the assumption that people will retire later, not earlier, in the future.

The average age of labour-retirement men in OECD countries is 63.5 on the latest estimates and for women, it is 62.3. If life expectancy continues to increase, as most forecasts show, then significant increases in the effective retirement age are required to maintain control of the cost of pensions. In 2050, only an effective retirement age of 66.6 for men and 65.8 for women would leave the duration of retirement at the same level as it is now (based on the United Nations population projections).

Studies of governments’ long-term projections of the finance of the pension system show that these are highly dependent on further increases in participation rates at older ages and effective retirement ages. The policies that governments can pursue to extend working lives twofold, the first is by providing and presenting information on incentives to work or penalties for retiring early and to embedded these in the pension system. The second looks at what the government can do on the “demand-side”, examining ways of ensuring that there are jobs for older workers.

Can farts spread COVID-19?

Don't laugh. I almost did but it's not necessarily a joke. As the Global Times reported: 

”In a lengthy and seemingly humorous yet serious article on its WeChat account, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of Tongzhou district in Beijing clarified that farts, normally, do not constitute another transmission route of COVID-19, unless someone takes a good and rather close sniff of gas from a pantless patient.”

Earlier this year, a Beijing district office for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced that pants should be an effective barrier against farts that might carry the novel coronavirus. So to avoid spreading COVID-19, practice responsible social distancing—and avoid farting naked around other people. Which is honestly a good rule of etiquette for life in general.

So as long as someone farting is wearing pants, there is no danger of transmitting the COVID-19, they say. I'm pretty sure this is not a joke. More at Mental Floss and Global Times.

My thanks to Ronnie at Time goes Bye for this

Medical Assistance in Dying

I had a cousin who chose to seek medical assistance when she was dying. A friend of mine had his wife seek medical assistance when she was very sick and another friend whose husband wanted to die at home. The idea of seeking medical assistance is a very sensitive and controversial topic. Right now, the Government of Canada has launched an online public consultation aimed at obtaining Canadian's views on amending the federal medical assistance in dying legislation. Canadians and interested stakeholders are invited to share their views online until January 27, 2020. So if you want more information and would like to make your views known go to the link and let the government know your views. The following is from the public consultation page, that gives very good information along with more links to other sites and agencies that can help. 
Who can provide medical assistance in dying and who can help. Those who can provide medical assistance in dying services are:

• physicians
• nurse practitioners (in provinces where this is allowed)

Those who can help provide medical assistance in dying include:

• pharmacists
• family members or other people that you ask to help
• health care providers who help physicians or nurse practitioners

These people can assist in the process without being charged under criminal law. However, physicians, nurse practitioners and other people who are directly involved must follow:

• the rules set out in the Criminal Code
• applicable provincial and territorial health-related laws, rules and policies

Protecting the right of providers to act according to their beliefs and values

Not all health care providers will be comfortable with medical assistance in dying. The federal practice may not be consistent with a provider's beliefs and values. The federal legislation does not force any person to provide or help to provide medical assistance in dying.

Provincial and territorial governments have the responsibility for determining how and where health care services are provided. They may also make policies around where medical assistance in dying can take place as long as they do not conflict with the Criminal Code.

Supporting access for patients seeking medical assistance in dying

We understand that these provider rights could create problems for patients who want to access medical assistance in dying. Most provinces and territories have developed care coordination systems to help patients learn more about this service.

Available Options

There are 2 types of medical assistance in dying available to Canadians. They each must include a physician or nurse practitioner who:

• directly administers a substance that causes death, such as an injection of a drug
  • this is becoming known as clinician-administered medical assistance in dying
  • it was previously known as voluntary euthanasia

or

• provides or prescribes a drug that the eligible person takes themselves, in order to bring about their own death
  • this is becoming known as self-administered medical assistance in dying
  • it was previously known as medically assisted suicide or assisted suicide

When the End is near

Providing care for your adult parents during their retirement years can be a demanding job.  And the job continues to become more demanding as your parent gets older and his or her health declines.  You will have to make more and more difficult decisions as the end grows closer and many of them you will make without the consultation your elderly parent if his mental abilities have slipped away due to the effects of ageing.

If the senior citizen you are caring for is dealing with a terminal illness that lingers, those demands will become virtually overwhelming.  When the end is near like this, your need for assistance will become acute.  This is no time to try to be stoic.  Dealing with a dying senior citizen is something that is usually outside of the abilities of caregiver children.  

If you see that time coming, now is the time to make arrangements for additional help.  If funds are in his estate, you can arrange for in-home nursing care.  These outstanding organizations can be with the senior citizen for as many hours as day as you need them to be and provide skilled medical care to minister to the demands of your parent’s terminal disease.

But once your doctor confirms that your parent is terminally ill, waste no time in getting hospice involved.  Hospice has been a lifesaver for many a weary caregiver who is worn out from months or years of caregiving and is incapable of dealing with the extra demands of the patient’s final months of life.

But there is an adjustment you as a caregiver will have to make as the nursing care personnel and hospice begin to surround your parent more and more in preparation for his or her final days.  You have been so intensely involved with every aspect of your parent’s needs.  And you have done a good job of getting them this far.  But now you have to step away and let these skilled professional caregivers provide the comfort and medical care that only they can give.

This may be difficult because your parent will still call for you to be nearby especially during these weeks.  This is a time to bring in the clergy, and to alert your siblings who may have to travel to be beside your mom’s bedside in her final days.  While there will be tears, if they can be with her a little bit before the final moment comes, that is a closure for the family that is tremendously valuable.  And it helps your ageing parent to have her children close to her as she approaches her final transition to another life.

Hospice will help you go through the transition in your own mind and heart to accept that the passing is near.  It will take some emotional courage to begin preparing for the funeral even though your parent is still with you.  But this can also be a bittersweet time of sharing because if your parent accepts what is to come, she can have some say into what she wants to have happen at the funeral and about other final arrangements.

Perhaps the strangest transition that you alone as the primary caregiver will go through will happen in the days just after the passing.  There is always a shock when your loved one dies even if it was very much anticipated.  But you will go through another drastic set of emotions that can only be described as “separation anxiety”.  

When you get that news that your parent has passed, you will suddenly feel the lifting of a burden that may have been on you for months or years.  You no longer have to worry about your parent anymore.  You don’t have to go there, take care of her food or medicine and comfort her anymore.  The lifting of that pressure can be liberating and disorienting for you.  You will feel strange throughout the funeral and the family times as well.  But keep these feelings in your heart as well because they will be sensations that only you and others who have been primary caregivers will ever be able to understand.