Many people reach 60/65 years of age and they have had enough of working, and are in a position to retire comfortably. However, there are many who need to work to build up their finances to live on for what might be another 20+ years of life, once they have retired, and those who want to continue working just because they want to continue working.
Removing someone from a job just because they are 60/65 years old is age discrimination and should be illegal. It is the same as firing someone because they are female/disabled/Muslim or whatever, it’s an arbitrary rule that does nobody any favors at all.
With an ageing population we will need older workers to do jobs and to train younger workers to do jobs. There are health benefits for older people who keep active, the NHS might find it spends less on care for older people who remain in work.
There are benefits for society as a whole when older people work and are active in the community.
The compulsory retirement age is telling people that, once they hit 60/65, they are useless.
The CBI has a problem with employing older workers because they tend to have more experience, and therefore cost more, than their younger counterparts. But a great deal of knowledge and experience goes out the door every time someone is forced out because of their age, and that cannot be replaced.
We need to develop something that allows older workers to continue working, assuming they are fit enough to do so and want to do so, while allowing those who want to retire, to retire.
Otherwise we continue to demonize the older generation as useless and a drain on our society, which is not the case.
