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| Jenni Murray: let me go with my headphones on | Jenni Murray: let me go with my headphones on |
| (4 months later) | |
| Oh good grief, I thought, when I read the research on retirement and health – it's a conspiracy! How clever of a government that's so strapped for cash to find a way of sweetening the pill of an ever-rising retirement age. Sorry, we can't afford to pay you to ease up in old age, but here's the good news: retirement is the first step towards one foot in the grave. | Oh good grief, I thought, when I read the research on retirement and health – it's a conspiracy! How clever of a government that's so strapped for cash to find a way of sweetening the pill of an ever-rising retirement age. Sorry, we can't afford to pay you to ease up in old age, but here's the good news: retirement is the first step towards one foot in the grave. |
| But there's no need to drain the limited pension pot and become a burden on the budget of the NHS. Just keep on keeping on 'til you drop, which will mean you'll tend to drop much later. You'll be less of a problem for what's left of the public services and, indeed, will go on being economically active and contribute through your taxes. | But there's no need to drain the limited pension pot and become a burden on the budget of the NHS. Just keep on keeping on 'til you drop, which will mean you'll tend to drop much later. You'll be less of a problem for what's left of the public services and, indeed, will go on being economically active and contribute through your taxes. |
| I could, I'm afraid, find no evidence to support my conspiracy theory. There's no suggestion of collusion between the Department for Work and Pensions and the researchers at the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Age Endeavour Fellowship. They're the ones who have published the research that suggests that health improves for a short while immediately after retirement but then deteriorates quite quickly. | I could, I'm afraid, find no evidence to support my conspiracy theory. There's no suggestion of collusion between the Department for Work and Pensions and the researchers at the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Age Endeavour Fellowship. They're the ones who have published the research that suggests that health improves for a short while immediately after retirement but then deteriorates quite quickly. |
| Clinical depression, they say, is 60% more common in established retirees and they are 40% less likely to describe themselves as in good or excellent health as their working contemporaries. I'm already worried about Alex Ferguson, going from a high-pressured, high-profile job to a hip replacement and more time with his family. | Clinical depression, they say, is 60% more common in established retirees and they are 40% less likely to describe themselves as in good or excellent health as their working contemporaries. I'm already worried about Alex Ferguson, going from a high-pressured, high-profile job to a hip replacement and more time with his family. |
| We should be aware that the institute is a declared rightwing thinktank, although it makes it clear that it takes no money or contracts from government and is independent of any political party. Its thinking on light government and the responsibility of the individual for his or her welfare did, though, become tremendously influential during the Thatcher years. This new work on health, the old and the impact on public policy must be music to the coalition's ears. | We should be aware that the institute is a declared rightwing thinktank, although it makes it clear that it takes no money or contracts from government and is independent of any political party. Its thinking on light government and the responsibility of the individual for his or her welfare did, though, become tremendously influential during the Thatcher years. This new work on health, the old and the impact on public policy must be music to the coalition's ears. |
| Something rather strange happened to me when I passed the age that gave me the right to a pension, a bus pass, a winter fuel allowance, senior citizen's rail pass, free prescriptions and an exit strategy from the daily grind. Sixty, in my case, some three years ago. I deferred the pension, but took everything else with a sense of grateful satisfaction. But the thought of having no work and not being able to make my living filled me with despair. | Something rather strange happened to me when I passed the age that gave me the right to a pension, a bus pass, a winter fuel allowance, senior citizen's rail pass, free prescriptions and an exit strategy from the daily grind. Sixty, in my case, some three years ago. I deferred the pension, but took everything else with a sense of grateful satisfaction. But the thought of having no work and not being able to make my living filled me with despair. |
| I began to look again at the people who'd been my role models in an earlier life. What did I have to look forward to as I progressed from middle to old age? I spent part of last year making a series for the World Service as part of its 80th birthday celebrations. I spoke to Professor Mildred Dressellhaus at MIT in Boston. She's a pioneer in nanotechnology, she teaches brilliant young students and still does groundbreaking research. She's 83. Dr Alice Rivlin – 82 – is one of President Obama's most valued economic advisers. And in Iceland, the former president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is as active and engaged in international politics as she ever was. She's also 83. | I began to look again at the people who'd been my role models in an earlier life. What did I have to look forward to as I progressed from middle to old age? I spent part of last year making a series for the World Service as part of its 80th birthday celebrations. I spoke to Professor Mildred Dressellhaus at MIT in Boston. She's a pioneer in nanotechnology, she teaches brilliant young students and still does groundbreaking research. She's 83. Dr Alice Rivlin – 82 – is one of President Obama's most valued economic advisers. And in Iceland, the former president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is as active and engaged in international politics as she ever was. She's also 83. |
| When the Women of the World festival was held at London's South Bank earlier this year, I said I'd take part if I could interview two baronesses, Shirley Williams (82) and Mary Warnock (89) – funny, lively, clever and fit as can be. Then there was an appearance on Woman's Hour by Petula Clark – playing the piano and singing a richer, more nuanced version of Downtown at 80. Or Joan Bakewell (80) on Would I Lie To You and Have I Got News For You?. Denis Healey, joining us for a discussion about being 90, asking if his cab to the Picasso exhibition had arrived yet. He planned to pop in there on his way back to "the House of the Living Dead" – his name for the House of Lords. But he, like Mary and Shirley, was as passionate about the democratic process as they'd ever been and none of them had ever dreamt of retiring. | When the Women of the World festival was held at London's South Bank earlier this year, I said I'd take part if I could interview two baronesses, Shirley Williams (82) and Mary Warnock (89) – funny, lively, clever and fit as can be. Then there was an appearance on Woman's Hour by Petula Clark – playing the piano and singing a richer, more nuanced version of Downtown at 80. Or Joan Bakewell (80) on Would I Lie To You and Have I Got News For You?. Denis Healey, joining us for a discussion about being 90, asking if his cab to the Picasso exhibition had arrived yet. He planned to pop in there on his way back to "the House of the Living Dead" – his name for the House of Lords. But he, like Mary and Shirley, was as passionate about the democratic process as they'd ever been and none of them had ever dreamt of retiring. |
| Most encouraging was a recent encounter with Daphne Selfe. She's a stunningly beautiful model who's much in demand and she's 84. No work on her face or dye in her hair. She wears her wrinkles and her grey locks with a pride that's attracting students due to show their final year college designs. They love how comfortable she is in her own skin. | Most encouraging was a recent encounter with Daphne Selfe. She's a stunningly beautiful model who's much in demand and she's 84. No work on her face or dye in her hair. She wears her wrinkles and her grey locks with a pride that's attracting students due to show their final year college designs. They love how comfortable she is in her own skin. |
| And what do we gain from these oldies remaining as part of our social and cultural life, especially when we live in a country where there's a 20% youth unemployment rate? It's a cliche, but it's true. We have their knowledge, their experience, their wit and their wisdom. | And what do we gain from these oldies remaining as part of our social and cultural life, especially when we live in a country where there's a 20% youth unemployment rate? It's a cliche, but it's true. We have their knowledge, their experience, their wit and their wisdom. |
| This is all fine if you're lucky enough to have a job from which to contemplate retirement. Or you're doing a job you love, where you could negotiate shorter hours if you felt the need and where you can sit down in a warm office. Not so fine if you've spent your life on a cold, wet building site or enduring the physical effort needed to wake at dawn, clean someone else's premises before they arrive and be paid no more than a pittance. | This is all fine if you're lucky enough to have a job from which to contemplate retirement. Or you're doing a job you love, where you could negotiate shorter hours if you felt the need and where you can sit down in a warm office. Not so fine if you've spent your life on a cold, wet building site or enduring the physical effort needed to wake at dawn, clean someone else's premises before they arrive and be paid no more than a pittance. |
| From a selfish perspective, I'm all in favour of abolishing the statutory retirement age and, as the institute suggests, offering no incentives for early retirement. No one should be forced to give up work if they don't want to. But it would be cruel to deny a decent state pension to those who can't wait for their payback from a society they've served for most of their lives at a hard job that gives them neither satisfaction nor pleasure nor decent working conditions. | From a selfish perspective, I'm all in favour of abolishing the statutory retirement age and, as the institute suggests, offering no incentives for early retirement. No one should be forced to give up work if they don't want to. But it would be cruel to deny a decent state pension to those who can't wait for their payback from a society they've served for most of their lives at a hard job that gives them neither satisfaction nor pleasure nor decent working conditions. |
| I've had my own brush with ill health and, if I had a pound for every time my loving family has urged me to ease up, I could probably afford to retire. But then I suspect I'd die from boredom. They used to say the BBC had one of the richest pension schemes in the country because people who retired from such a high-octane, creative environment tended not to last very long! | I've had my own brush with ill health and, if I had a pound for every time my loving family has urged me to ease up, I could probably afford to retire. But then I suspect I'd die from boredom. They used to say the BBC had one of the richest pension schemes in the country because people who retired from such a high-octane, creative environment tended not to last very long! |
| I'll always remember the night Tommy Cooper died on stage and thinking: "What a way to go!" So with apologies to whoever has to deal with the aftermath, I'd be quite happy to go with my headphones on. But not quite yet! | I'll always remember the night Tommy Cooper died on stage and thinking: "What a way to go!" So with apologies to whoever has to deal with the aftermath, I'd be quite happy to go with my headphones on. But not quite yet! |
| Jenni Murray presents Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4 | Jenni Murray presents Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4 |
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