(no subject)

[oulfis]

I came across this article about how not only are life expectancies increasing, the number of "active years" that people have are increasing. Which is a good thing! But then it says "The question is whether society will adapt to make the most of this new labor pool," which is, I think, the worst possible question to pose in response.

This sentence in particular is horrible to me:

I’m in as good or better shape than ever. I hike and travel, and still have the energy to work 50- to 60-hour weeks.

Working 50 to 60 hours a week is not what health is for!! It almost pains me the way that a 60-hour work week is grammatically equated to hiking and travel.

It's interesting to think about ageism, and the importance of not prematurely shuffling people off to the kind of social isolation that assumes they're already basically dead, but surely a spry 75-year-old has better things to do than work 60 hours a week?

Comments

[pangodillo]

great bog, doesn't everyone have better things to do than work 60 hours a week??

[pangodillo]

like! let me clarify! I am 100% with you on the idea that "people get more good years" should NOT immediately lead to "so they should spend all those extra years working"!! but it looks to me (having, I admit, not read the article) like they couldn't even suggest the idea that "healthier 75-year-olds should work 60-hour weeks" unless they took it as read that healthy younger people should also be working 60-hour weeks.

and forgive me if I've forgotten my labor history, it's not my strong suit, but I'm pretty sure we settled on 40 as the most a person should be required to do!

[violsva]

Right? NO ONE should be working 60 hours a week, this is why we had labour reform!

[oulfis]

YES

[digsdigsdigs]

The whole framing of this article seems so nuts to me -- to have a piece about older workers and retirement in the US and literally *nothing* about wealth inequality??? When there are huge gaps in life expectancy between rich and poor because of systemic disparities in care, more and more people expect to work until they die, and a ridiculous proportion of elderly people live in poverty? But sure, what's keeping all the septuagenarians from their busy and exciting professional lives is the ageism of the young folks in charge.

[hlagol]

Lord, let us unionize those spry elderly.