Mandatory Retirement--Not

Congratulations to the Premiers Committee in B.C. on aging, for coming out squarely against mandatory retirement. And, to the Premier for supporting that.

I know there are drawbacks--jobs for younger people. Changing what was a right to a choice can also cause problems.

But the benefits, and what it says to people, I think are more important. It is like an official redefinition of the meaning of being older. It actually plays catch up to both what people have been doing forever--working long into their eighties and even nineties, but also to what baby boomers have been choosing to do--define for themselves what being in ones sixties or more actually means.

The key is to allow us to shift our thinking to the idea of life transitions and changes and to somehow make sure that we don't lose the ability to makes those shifts, through the redefinition of pension and Old Age Security payments ( maybe we can just change the name).

Like much else, I wonder if the change merely shifts us back to where we were many years ago--with people working all their lives, and having value all their lives. I am not a historian , but I would suppose it does. The difference was, perhaps, that then there was no choice.

For a summary of the report, please see http://www.cserv.gov.bc.ca/seniors/council/summary.htm