Ageing & Pensions

In February 18 issue of The Economist, ageing and pensions were at issue. The author claimed that in the coming half-century, it will seem just as absurd as the exclusion of women out of the labor force before WWII that western societies today are content to press old people - the potentially productive set of workers to stay at home sipping tea and potting begonias - and to pay them for it, to boot.

The workforce is ageing across the developed countries. Within the EU, the number of workers aged between 50-64 will increase by 25% over the next two decades, while those aged 20-29 will decrease by 20%. In the US, the number of workers aged 55-64 will have increased by more than half in this decade, at the same time as the 35- to 44-year-olds decline by 10%. In Japan, its workforce is expected to shrink by 16% (approx. 10m people) over the next 25 years.

The concurrance of the falling supply of skilled workers and soaring number of retired people will lead companies/social security systems to cut the retirement benefits and urge governments to amend the regulations to send the elderly back to the workforce. Such changes are now under way.

Farewell to the good days after 60 or 65. For auld lang syne, we'd live a better life if we aged earlier. :-P For people at my age, a clear mind is needed to see through the changes and implications to our future life. Develop an attitude of independence and self-help, cos that's the only way how God is gonna save you.

Movie Proseidon flashed back to my memory... 9 out of 1,000 passengers on that ship survived the bombing, and they were exactly the only few people who tried so hard to get out of the cabin and climb up to the top...