A Son of the Rock

I saw this story on the television news last week.

Cue much in the way of shock! horror! reactions – especially from the Pensions Minister – but my first instinct was to disbelieve it. It is only a projection after all. (A less kind interpretation would be to say it is an estimate, even less kindly a guesstimate.)

Who is to say that the increase in numbers of those living beyond 100 will be sustained in the long term? Who knows all the factors that contribute to it?

Some certainly – better medical care, fewer diseases, fitter lifestyles – but all?

And what of the ongoing obesity epidemic of which we hear so much? Is obesity not a factor involved in shortening of lifespan? Is this not likely to render the estimate unreliable? One might say totally unreliable. And what if a more virulent strain of AIDS or BSE were to strike?

I would perhaps have given the concern over these projections more weight had it not come from the Department of Work and Pensions, an organisation which seems bent on increasing the age at which people become eligible for receiving the UK state pension. Doesn’t this estimate play perfectly into their hands?

By all means encourage people to save for their retirement. But…

In a time of high unemployment and job losses – a time which we are surely entering given the Coalition Government’s policies – would it not make more sense to reduce the pension age? That would have the benefit of freeing up jobs which younger people who would otherwise be unemployed could then fill. At the very least, until happy days are here again (and when will that be, if ever?) do not exacerbate the problem.

But of course the Government is not in the least concerned with unemployment. It is actively stoking it after all.