Oh, calamity, women are going to
have to work past the age of 60! I can hear the chorus of thousands of women
who, like me, have had to do so. In fact, at the age of 79 I am still working.
Where do policitians and
journalists get the idea that this is something new? 'Twas ever thus.
It wasn't until the mid-1980s
that, when I was in my mid-40s, that I found a job that paid quite well for
women. Mind you, it still wasn't the equivalent of men's salaries. Fortunately
there was some overtime which I utilised very well. Some saved and some used on
travel (when I made copious notes and took loads of photographs). By the
mid-90s I had developed Repetitive Stress Injuries in my wrists, right arm and
shoulder and lost my job. Did I get compensation? No way - I was working for a
large City solicitors. They very generously gave me early retirement with a
partial disability pension that didn't even pay the rent.
No chance of retirement for me.
So I learned how to become a journalist and here is where the travel paid off.
Yes, I was an internationally recognised journalist. Then tourism changed but
by this time I had learned how to write novels. Which is why at 79 I am still
able to work.
I am one of the lucky ones.
Bearing in mind how diabolically low women's wages were for most of the 20th
century, women weren't able to save for the future. This was especially hard
for single women. No chance of buying their own homes so we are still renting.
And rents these days are through the roof. I have to continue working because
my State pension only pays my rent.
Instead of bemoaning the fact
that in future women will have to work past the age of 60, we all think it is
about time the Government did more to help the rest of us. Certainly past the
age of 70 no one should have to work to supplement their income.
