webooks Launches Latest Online Book “Planning Your Retirement”

Oct. 17, 2008 - PRLog -- Traditionally, retirement marked the point in our lives when we were suddenly free from the pressures of work and money. We’d saved enough to relax, pursue our hobbies and spend more time with our families. The essentials of living were well within our means, as well as a few luxuries on top. But things have changed quite drastically over the last twenty years, and those planning for retirement have been forced to change their priorities. Now, retired people are amongst the most vulnerable and neglected in our society, a shocking fact for a country ranked twentieth richest in the world.

The shift in priorities

Because they are more likely to suffer from illness and disability, retired people as a group have always been reliant on the welfare state. Since the 1980s, policies such as subcontracting, selective privatisation, and more centralised management have taken root in the NHS, the most prominent institution of the welfare state. Very often, the result of all this has been detrimental to retired people. For example, in 2001, when the Craigdhu nursing home in Glasgow was shut down by the local council in a cost-cutting exercise, 12 of its 20 former residents died within four months of the closure. None of these people had adequate income, family support or professional care to survive.

Pensions

The retired population of this country grew by a staggering 31% between 1971 and 2006. This, along with changing budgetary priorities, has curbed the state’s funding of pensions. The result is that the current actual weekly basic state pension, £90.78, is simply not enough to make ends meet, so argue groups like the National Pensioners Convention. The statistics would seem to prove them right, as 1 in 5 pensioners are living below the poverty line, struggling to afford food, rent, bills and transport. Thus, many are forced to continue working out of financial necessity, even if it means that they don’t get to enjoy all that spare time they were told they’d be entitled to near the end of their days.

Knock-on effects

The material discomfort that many retired people suffer can result in depressive disorders which are only compounded by age-related complaints such as audio/visual impairment and dementia. Because of generational habits such as ‘not wanting to make a fuss’, older people tend not to inform their doctors of their problems, resulting in 3.5 million psychiatric cases going undiagnosed.

The retired people of today are the same people who worked, fought and struggled yesterday. Younger people owe them a great deal – they are our parents and grandparents after all – yet as a society it seems we are not willing to repay the debt.

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Notes to Editors

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