Excellent news on retirement age

When I was working in the Policy Unit in Cowley St, one of the policy proposals I wrote up was the plan to abolish compulsory retirement at 65. This morning I woke to the news that the Coalition is to end from October next year the forced retirement of people at the age of 65. Excellent news!

We have an aging population and we are part of a competitive global economy. Forcing people with a high level of skills and experience into retirement against their wishes runs contrary to commonsense. It is bad for the economy and bad for business. And ultimately it should be up to individuals whether or not they want to retire.

There will be issues such as redundancy payments and the physical problems of continuing in a job which may require a higher level of physical activity. There is a danger though that this is overplayed as an issue. Despite the small number of challenges, the principle of ending compulsory retirement is right.
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