The looming pension crisis
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Apparently, things are only going to get worse
The SOYMB blog has been keeping up to date with the projections on both the State pension and many company occupation pensions.In the UK, 68 now but with the prospect of 70 being the reality. Similar stories across the globe.There has been quite a strong women's grass-roots protest Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) that failed to achieve well-deserved general support from the unions and the public as a whole.Both BT and Royal Mail intend to end final salary schemes and both threaten imminent industrial action to protect it. However, having watered down their schemes for new entrants, it is unlikely that younger employees will be as determined to defend the rights of the older worker.Part of the divide and rule is to incite a generation "civil war", we see it regards the property ladder and the triple-locked pension being unlocked and the rising age of retirement. Typical blame everybody but the profit system.I'm less impressed by the budget gap forecasts referred to in the article. Playing with figures often. I still remember my own employer's pension surplus when they took a 10-year "holiday" from contributions and then when the stock-market crashed, pleading poverty. On the wider world issue of the aging of the working population, the blog has often linked the issue to the need for greater immigration as a counter-measure.Living longer is no longer a success story of society but a problem and a handicap. I'm not surprised that we have folk proclaiming euthanasia for the old.
alanjjohnstone wrote:Living longer is no longer a success story of society but a problem and a handicap. I'm not surprised that we have folk proclaiming euthanasia for the old.Indeed, Alan – like the Japanese finance minister, Taro Aso, at a meeting of the national council on social security reforms who said recently that the elderly should be enabled to "hurry up and die" to relieve pressure on the state to pay for their medical care (Justin McCurry, 22 January 2013. “Let elderly people 'hurry up and die', says Japanese minister”, The Guardian)We are just numbers to the ruling class – or machines that have been rendered obsolete by age. You wonder why they even bother going through the ritual of currying favour at election times
The SOYMB blog reported his remarks at the timehttp://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-dignity-of-old-age.html( as an aside, i recall i was accused of ageism by my branch when i referred to the age of a returning member to highlight our incapacity to recruit new young members. Mea Culpa)It suits employers to project pessimism to protect their share of profits from our productivity.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4391520.stmThe report's authors Philip Sadler said there was no "ageing crisis"."As a society we can afford to grow old," he said. "Rising productivity will outweigh any negative influence on living standards from an ageing population."
As i said, the SOYMB blog has raised the topic of pensions quite regularly. I mentioned in a previous message not to put too much trust in scare statistics. This article discusses why we should be wary.http://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-brain-washing.html
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