The Future of Retirement?

In light of proposals to increase the State Pension Age faster than currently planned, and the likely abolition of the default retirement age, a new discussion paper has been released by the International Longevity Centre-UK setting out why people retire when they do and looking at how this may change in the future.

Findings

The paper finds that:

• The meaning of retirement was originally bound up with the receipt of a pension, but actually most people do not retire at State Pension Age;
• As you would expect, good pensions generally increase the likelihood of early retirement, and vice versa. Other things being equal, low-paid/low-skilled workers usually retire later due to financial necessity;
• Over the long-term, defined contribution pension schemes are likely to encourage later retirement, in part due to their inherent incentive structure, but also because they tend to be less generous that defined benefit schemes; and
• Many older workers appear to favour a gradual transition from work to retirement. The report notes that such arrangements could help people to cope with care responsibilities.

Recommendations

ILC-UK recommends that, if working lives are to be extended, the Government needs to give more attention to:

• Preventative healthcare;
• Job quality for older workers;
• The potential of ‘gradual retirement’, including encouraging employers to offer downshifting options to staff approaching retirement at all levels;
• Simplifying the pensions system and improving the provision of advice; and
• The support offered to older people with caring responsibilities.

Dr Craig Berry, author of the report and Senior Researcher at ILC-UK said “Proposals to increase the State Pension Age and abolish the Default Retirement Age will have an impact on individual retirement decisions. They will not automatically lead to longer working lives, and Government must not develop its policies in this area without looking at the reasons people retire when they do. The Government needs to consider how it can best incentivise and support us to work longer in sustainable ways. The introduction of policies to encourage ‘gradual retirement’ have to be part of this picture”

For more information and a copy of the report, go to http://www.ilcuk.org.uk/record.jsp?type=news&ID=108

Should online news be free?

I have just logged on to look at The Times online and come up against the new paywall. Somehow I had forgotten that access is no longer to be free. And it was a shock.

Since the inception of the internet, we have got used to being able to access all sorts of information via the web.  And it has mostly been free, unlike almost every other source of  print information. And this has been great, hasn’t it? I think we have all understood that if not a direct cash price, there has been some sort of payment in exchange- whether putting up with advertising or  giving away personal information.

But now The Times wants real cash for its online copy and that makes me question the value to me of its content. Is the news that I am going to buy exclusive or its leader column particularly insightful?  Will it give me something the other news websites won’t? One thing that the paywall stops dead,  is sharing useful articles via social media.

These are challenging times for newspapers.  Few make a profit and new business models no doubt need to be explored. Interestingly, the Evening Standard has gone the other way and is now a freebie and a much lesser newspaper in my opinion for that. More difficult to get hold off and lacking the quality content which on a good day would last me the whole of my commute back to Sussex.

And as for The Times? I think on balance, I would prefer more advertising.  For now, I think I will check out some other titles.

West Sussex County Times covers competition results

There was a nice piece in this week’s West Sussex County Times about our Designing for the Future competition run with the University of Brighton which asked the students to design products which dealt with one or more of the challenges of ageing.  As well as mentioning our winner Harry Trimble, a couple of the other designs were also featured.

Ashley Temudo

Ashley Temudo re-designed the hearing aid.  Ashley, who is a second year 3D Design student at Brighton, took his inspiration from the way spectacles have been transformed from assistive aids (who can forget the ugly NHS pink and blue glasses dolled out to children in the 1970s?) to the must-have fashion accessories many designs are today.

Ashley told me : “I aimed to recreate the way hearing aids look and how people perceive them. From a minimalist object that tends to be hidden today, almost considered a social stigma, I wanted to create a fashion accessory which could be worn flamboyantly, attracting positive attention, even from people with no hearing impairments.”

And there is nothing timid about this design. What do you think?

Sophia Fong

Also pictured was the pill box by Brighton second year 3D Design student, Sophia Fong.

The seven day pill organiser is a beautiful, handmade walnut box used to organise and dispense daily doses of medication or supplements across a one-week period. Unlike the many plastic pill organisers available today, this is a really attractive box made out of warm walnut wood which sits snugly in the palm of your hand. Something that you would be pleased to display on your dressing table.  And may be a future heirloom. 

Let us know what you think about the designs. Would you wear Ashley’s hearing aid?

About retirement – dispatches from the front line – Part 23

You will remember that in an earlier note I affected uncertainty about the proposition that Wensleydale was named after the cheese, and you will have spotted instantly that I did this for comic effect. Not terribly comic I grant you, more perhaps a sly dart of self mockery, targeted at the bumbling old fart washed up on the beach of retirement, a pose I adopt with considerable relish. Is it likely, do you think, that someone who in his youth mastered the difficulties of Classical Greek and Hebrew, who understands some of what Melvyn Bragg says, who can find his own backside without a torch and unaided hoists his undies of a morning, that such a person could think that the cheese came first? Well, some think it so. Two readers, in all seriousness and with kindly intention to put me right, have advised me of the facts.

Can small dogs save your life?

This month sees the publication of journalist, Bel Mooney’s latest book, “Small dogs can save your life” which explores how her dog, Bonnie has seen her through some hard times. Billed as a story of survival, transformation and love, Bel tells how her rescue dog, Bonnie in turn rescued Bel when her world fell apart with the all-too public break-up of her 35-year marriage.

Can small dogs play this role? I think so. I know of several women in particular, who have bought small dogs as companions often after the loss of a partner and in every case the bond between owner and dog is really strong.

Is there any significance in the dog being “small”?  Is it just that small animals are easier to look after or is there another reason why smaller breeds make good companions.

What do you think?

Have you seen our Pet File? Great for storing all that essential pet paperwork and invaluable when you are entrusting the care of your beloved pet to someone else  – for more information, CLICK HERE

Design Week features Designing for the Future competition

“Exercise mat for older people bags Future Perfect Award

Tue, 8 Jun 2010 | By Emily Pacey

An interactive exercise mat and storybook for older people has won first prize in a competition to design products for an ageing population.

University of Brighton 3D design student Harry Trimble scooped the Designing for the Future £1000 cash prize for his mat, which changes colour where pressure is applied. The mat and accompanying book are intended to encourage older people to exercise and to play with small children.

Trimble claims to have taken inspiration from observing people in their 50s and 60s playing with toddlers.

The competition was organised by the University of Brighton and The Future Perfect Company, whose founder Philippa Aldrich describes the winning design as ‘challenging how we think about older people and what we expect their lifestyles to be like’.

Other entries in the competition included a hearing aid designed to look like a piece of jewellery, ergonomic bowls and trays, and a circular wooden pill box.

Aldrich adds that Trimble’s product stood out because ‘it was inspired by looking at the needs of the customer group first, rather than reworking an existing product’.”

Uk lagging behind Europe in recognising crucial role of grandparents

Britain’s grandparents are undervalued and overlooked compared to a number of other European countries according to a new report by charity Grandparents Plus.

The report shows that with an increasing ageing population, high numbers of mothers in employment and the prevalence of family breakdown, the contribution of grandparents is becoming increasingly important in family life – in the UK and across Europe.

But the UK is lagging behind some of its European neighbours when it comes to recognising the role of grandparents, leaving many to juggle work and care without additional financial support.  In a number of EU countries:

• parents are able to transfer parential leave to a grandparent
• working grandparents can take leave if a grandchild is unwell
• grandparents are paid for the care they provide under certain circumstances eg support for teenage parents

In the UK, parental leave cannot be transferred nor is it possible for parents to pay grandparents childcare tax credits ot vouchers. Grandparents have no right to request flexible working. Yet 1 in 3 working mothers in the UK rely on grandparents for childcare.

The annoucement that from April 2011 grandparents in the UK will be able to claim National Insurance credits is a significant step forward in recognising the contribution that grandparents make. But campaginers argue that it is time to build on this by looking at some of the more progressive policies in Europe.

For more information, including a copy of the report, visit the Grandparents Plus website at http://www.grandparentsplus.org.uk/

Congratulations to Harry Trimble! Winner of the “Designing for the Future” Competition

We are delighted to announce that the winner of the “Designing for the Future” competition is BA (Hons) 3D Design second year student, Harry Trimble.

Harry won first prize in The Future Perfect Company and University of Brighton competition to encourage designers to think about the challenges that an ageing population presents – and to create innovative, attractive and aspirational designs that inspire people to continue to live enjoyable, active and independent lives as they get older.

Having observed parents in their 50s and early 60s playing “rough and tumble” games with their four year old twins,  Harry came up with an interactive play and exercise mat with accompanying storybook which encourages young and old to play and exercise together.

This was one of the most innovative designs, not least because it was inspired by looking at the needs of the customer group first rather than re-working an existing product.  It also challenges how we think about older people and what we expect their lifestyles to be like.  It is forward looking to an older population who are likely to be healthier, living longer and having more contact with children, whether their own or their grandchildren.

We thought it would make the perfect activity to be kept as a treat at Grandma’s house!

The competition received entries from three year groups of Product Design and 3D Design students at the University of Brighton and was judged by Anne Boddington, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Architecture, Philippa Aldrich, founder of The Future Perfect Company, Gretel Jones, consumer markets policy adviser at Age UK and BBC Two’s Design for Life finalist, Mike Cloke. 

Mike Cloke commented: “The standard of entries was excellent. The students approached the brief from many different angles, which made it a very difficult competition to judge, but an exciting one to be involved with!”

We will be posting details about some of the other designs over the next few weeks. In the meantime, we would love to hear your views about Harry’s design.

For more information about Harry Trimble, visit www.harrytrimbledesign.blogspot.com

About retirement – dispatches from the front line – Part 22

 A friend who recently joined me in retirement asked me what changes there had been to my life as a result of mine, and it set me thinking. The biggest change of course was getting a dog, and it is her requirements and demands that have had the biggest impact, given structure to my days. I take her out for a walk, and usually a swim, any time between seven and eight in the morning, and again at around noon for a longer walk and always a swim. These are new activities that would not have been possible when working. Also new is the afternoon nap, which starts out as reading. There is one sofa only that she is allowed on and if I settle to read on any other she puts her muzzle under my book and pitches it out of my hands, then walks over to “her” sofa where I join her. We enjoy this very much.

Mindfulness – wellness for the mind

Mindfulness is the new buzz word in health circles for dealing with stress, anxiety and depression.  But what is it and what can it do for you?

How you handle the way you feel can play a big part in your mental health. When things are going wrong, it is all too easy to focus on the negative and become consumed with negative feelings.

Mindfulness helps you change the way you feel, act and think and helps you to break free from a downward spiral of negative thoughts and start focussing on the positive.

The mindfulness technique is based on simple meditation and yoga practices but is non–religious.  The idea is that by becoming more aware of what’s happening in your mind and body, you give yourself the chance to respond differently and more positively. It teaches you also to become aware of the early signs of depression and take appropriate action.

Can mindfulness work for you?  There is scientific research to suggest that when people who have experienced depression take a mindfulness course, they are less likely to relapse. However, this is no quick fix. Training your mind in this way takes time and commitment and you need to be prepared to practice the technique regularly to get the best results.

Interested in learning more? Visit http://www.bemindful.co.uk/about_mindfulness