Wordblog

Wordblog has been neglected as I adjusted to the idea of retirement. It is not as if I wanted to give up work. But the human resources department (I think they feel that name gives them more importance than the old personnel) had other ideas.

The policy of the University of Westminster is not to employ people beyond 65. But they did keep me on for an extra year to help with a difficult situation they found themselves in.

I would rather like to rant about an ageist society and a government which supports employers in their desire to get rid of people on no grounds other than their age.

But I will just point out that this year is the centenary of the introduction of old age pensions by the then chancellor, Lloyd George. At that time life expectancy at birth was around 50 while a century later it is 77 for men and 81 for women

Life expectancy for men at 65 is now nearly 17 years and for women close on 20 years. With working life these days starting later it is not surprising there is talk about a “pensions crisis”.

For me there is just one possibility — find something else to do. More of that later.