globalization scuppers ageing myth
Although individual prosperous countries may be looking at an ageing population ahead, Donata points out that on a global scale there is a massive surfeit of young people desperate for jobs and with a globalized workforce there are not even enough jobs for them, let alone the old people that western governments now expect to work until they drop.
“The reasons given to increase the pension age are disingenuous; merely a ploy to stop paying people their rightful pensions and force them to use up their savings,” says Donata. “Worldwide there is no ageing population. On the contrary, people over 65 are vastly outnumbered by people under 15.”
“There is absolutely no basis to the myth that 60 is the new 40, and that most elderly people want to work longer,” says Donata. “My last years in the workforce were soul destroying, and upcoming 50 plus workers are going to have a harder time than I had.”
“With globalization, it is not just our children we are in competition with for jobs but the children of people all around the world,” says Donata, “and the situation I was in will become more difficult than ever with each passing year.”
“Increasing the age of retirement would be a disaster for the well-being of older workers who, unlike younger people facing sudden unemployment, have a very slim chance of finding any sort of job, let alone another permanent job.”
“For every contract, casual or part-time position I applied for I was up against a bevy of highly educated bright young things, eager to get onto the bottom rung of the working ladder,” says Donata, “and mostly these young things were not home grown kids – they were from India, Pakistan and all of the Asian countries.”
“That I managed to get a fairly steady stream of contract employment during the last years of my working life is a bit of a miracle – as is the fact that I never had to resort to unskilled labor,” says Donata, “but the time will come when the level of education in the global workforce is so high that home grown people will only be suitable for unskilled jobs, no matter what their age is.”
“So, for governments to go on about our ageing population in the face of a global surfeit of young people is a terrible lie,” says Donata. “If anything, we should be lowering the pension age and freeing up a lot of jobs for young people everywhere.”
Read more of Donata's story:
don't increase pension age!
“The reasons given to increase the pension age are disingenuous; merely a ploy to stop paying people their rightful pensions and force them to use up their savings,” says Donata. “Worldwide there is no ageing population. On the contrary, people over 65 are vastly outnumbered by people under 15.”
“There is absolutely no basis to the myth that 60 is the new 40, and that most elderly people want to work longer,” says Donata. “My last years in the workforce were soul destroying, and upcoming 50 plus workers are going to have a harder time than I had.”
“With globalization, it is not just our children we are in competition with for jobs but the children of people all around the world,” says Donata, “and the situation I was in will become more difficult than ever with each passing year.”
“Increasing the age of retirement would be a disaster for the well-being of older workers who, unlike younger people facing sudden unemployment, have a very slim chance of finding any sort of job, let alone another permanent job.”
“For every contract, casual or part-time position I applied for I was up against a bevy of highly educated bright young things, eager to get onto the bottom rung of the working ladder,” says Donata, “and mostly these young things were not home grown kids – they were from India, Pakistan and all of the Asian countries.”
“That I managed to get a fairly steady stream of contract employment during the last years of my working life is a bit of a miracle – as is the fact that I never had to resort to unskilled labor,” says Donata, “but the time will come when the level of education in the global workforce is so high that home grown people will only be suitable for unskilled jobs, no matter what their age is.”
“So, for governments to go on about our ageing population in the face of a global surfeit of young people is a terrible lie,” says Donata. “If anything, we should be lowering the pension age and freeing up a lot of jobs for young people everywhere.”
Read more of Donata's story:
don't increase pension age!
Labels: ageing myth, ageing population, globalization, globalized workforce, pension age, surfeit of young people
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