Disputes about our future pensions have been going on for months. It is known that the system needs to be changed, but the proposal to raise the retirement age to 67 is worrying. Can a man who is so old still be productive at work? Will his physical and mental condition allow him to do so?
Theoreticallyhuman bodyis programmed in such a way that it can function for up to 120 years. Today thelife expectancy of a Europeanis 80, but it is still growing. It is hard to believe that it was still 50 at the beginning of the 20th century. This progress is mainly due to the dynamically developing medicine and more and more effective methods of treatment. It is also the effect of the growing awareness in societies that he alth and life expectancy largely depend on the lifestyle one leads. We know the importance of rational nutrition, preventive examinations, and physical activity. Importantly, more and more people use this knowledge in practice. This brings results: they live longer, feel young longer and… work longer. This trend prevails in all developed countries, and in Poland …
Old over 50
In Roman times, the 35-year-old was an old man. Today, in the social and sociological sense, it is defined as a person aged around 70. But some people feel old and tired much earlier and only want one thing - rest. There are a lot of such people in Poland. Compared to the mid-nineteenth century, we now live 40 years longer on average. In the years 1950-55, a Pole lived an average of 58.6 years, and a Pole 64.2 years. Currently, ladies live an average of 79.4 years, and men - 71.1 years. Extending the life span of a statistical Pole does not translate into maintaining professional activity (more on the chart opposite). Among the EU countries, we belong to the countries where people aged 55-64 in the total number of employees constitute only 26.9%. In other countries, older people have been working for much longer in employment. For example, in Sweden as much as 68.9 percent. people between 55 and 64 years of age, in Denmark 60.2%, in the Czech Republic 42.3%, in Germany 39.3%. Less professionally active than Poles are Slovaks (24.6%) and Slovenes (22.1%). Poland is also one of the countries where both men and women stop working before reaching retirement age - women on average approx.58, and men around 59. Most often it is caused by poor he alth or difficult working conditions. The Central Statistical Office reports that in Poland over half a million people work in danger, i.e. in conditions exceeding, for example, the permissible noise standards. However, experts estimate (and this is confirmed by the European Agency for Safety and He alth) that at least four times as many people work in hazardous conditions. Only in 2010, ZUS spent about PLN 5 billion on pensions and compensations for inadequate working conditions.
ImportantEducated people are active longer
Research from the Social Policy Center in Bremen (Germany) shows that people with a university degree live 8-10 years longer than those without an education. This includes, among others better social position, higher income. The exceptions are journalists, chemists, artists and psychologists who live much shorter lives. The risk of premature death among humanists is 42 percent. higher than among doctors and by 30 percent. higher than among lawyers. They also remain professionally active longer.
Pole: man without condition
Aging of the body leads to a loss of homeostasis (the ability to self-regulate biological processes), which makes us more susceptible to disease and environmental stress. Scientists from the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Łódź calculated that 28 percent. employees experience severe stress in connection with their work. As is known, it is the cause of many heart diseases, depression, chronic fatigue and a significant decrease in the body's immunity, which increases the susceptibility to infectious diseases and cancer. Excessive requirements of the employer are at the root of stress caused by work, often psychological violence (mobbing), but also noise, high temperature at which you have to work. The Institute's data also shows that stress is the most common cause of 2-week sick leave. The NATPOL 2011 research shows, however, that we are also not in good physical condition. The heart of an average inhabitant of our country is 8-9 years older than the record age would indicate. More and more people suffer from arterial hypertension (out of 10.5 million patients, 9.5 million are people aged 18-79). The number of obese young people is systematically growing (in 2011, 7.4% of women were obese, and only 4.4% 10 years earlier; while there are 5% more obese men). In 33.5 percent people aged 18-34, i.e. every third young Pole, has too high a cholesterol level. Atherosclerosis resulting from high cholesterol affects over 36 percent. men over 40 - it destroys not only their circulatory system, but also the brain. Although in the last 10 years it has fallen inIn Poland, the number of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases is still one of the highest in Europe. Regardless of the reasons, the he alth condition of the average Pole 50+ is not good. Most suffer from chronic diseases, and this has consequences in the area of employment.
Better young than old worker
There is no system in Poland that would enable a smooth transition from work to work. An ancestral miner is unlikely to find a job in an office, even if he has the appropriate qualifications. It is similar with other professions. There is another problem: currently only a few employers respect professional experience and the knowledge gained over the years. People 50 or 60+ say that they will not achieve anything anymore. It is they who are most often taken into account when reducing employment. And then, even with very high qualifications, it is difficult for them to find a job. Employers prefer to employ young people because they believe that they will be less ill, more agile, and often less demanding and able to work in all conditions. But a change in the attitude of employers to employing people over 50 will be forced by the demographic situation. Society is aging. As stated in the report of the Civic Development Forum, in the next 10 years the number of people of working age will decrease by more than 2 million, and at the same time the number of retirees will increase on a similar scale. According to the estimates of the Central Statistical Office, in 15 years, every fourth Pole will be in the 60's. If the aging scenario turns out to be a reality, we will face serious economic and social crises.
ImportantWhat does time do to us?
Depending on the lifestyle we lead, our organs wear out slower or faster. But some changes happen independently of us.
» Heart - the frequency of beats and the amount of blood ejected during contraction gradually decrease. This is the effect of thickening, and therefore less contractility, of the left ventricle. The tissues get less oxygenated blood, and this causes less nutrition of nerve cells and muscle fibers.
» The brain - between the ages of 20 and 80, the weight of the brain decreases by 5-10% because nerve cells gradually disappear in various areas. The hippocampus - the area where information is transferred from short-term to long-term memory - can lose as much as 30 percent. Decreasing the mass of the frontal lobes, which are responsible for thought processes, makes it difficult to focus on several things at the same time.
» Lungs - over 65 years of life, the surface of the lungs is reduced by approx. 20 percent Only 1/3 of the lung tissue works in smokers. This means a poorer supply of oxygen to the tissues.
» Muscles -fast contraction muscles gradually disappear, which reduces the agility of movements.
» Digestive system - glands produce less and less saliva, intestinal peristalsis weakens. That's why we have more digestive problems.
» Kidneys - contract. With a 60-year-old they are 44 percent. less efficient than in a 20-year-old, which means that there are more toxins in the body.
» Bones and joints - after the age of 40, cells that destroy bones (osteoclasts) are more active than those that make them up (osteoblasts). Calcium begins to decline in the bones. The cartilage covering the ends of the bones that make up the joint wears down, causing microdamages and stiffening of the joints. Tendons and ligaments lack collagen and become less flexible.
Retired half of life?
We will not avoid extending the years of work, but we should not be afraid of it. Maciej Bukowski and Piotr Lewandowski from the Institute for Structural Research in their work "Should you be afraid of raising the retirement age" write that currently men are professionally active for approx. 55 percent. life, and women only by 45 percent. Statistically, we work nearly 10 years shorter than other Europeans. If the retirement age is not extended, in 2030 Polish women will be economically inactive by 60 percent. life. Need for an incentive system. In the European Union countries, there are multiple privileges following the extension of the retirement age. In Finland and Belgium it is allowed to receive part of the retirement pension in parallel with the remuneration for work. For an employee, the efforts of the state to maintain the continuity of his employment are also important, for example through education programs for older people, the prohibition of taking into account age when recruiting employees or social campaigns that prove the great value (knowledge, professional experience) of older people for companies. In Poland, at least for the time being, there are no incentives to delay retirement. It goes, among others o the possibility of early drawing of part of the retirement benefits and the right for everyone to a longer leave for he alth improvement (now only a few professions have such an option). However, if such provisions are included in the draft reform, social fears and protests about raising the retirement age will probably disappear.
ImportantWhat will be in 28 years?
Poles who will then enter retirement age (today they are approaching 40) will find themselves in a difficult situation. This is not reading tea leaves, but a serious analysis of the demographic situation in Poland. The FOR (Civic Development Forum) report presents the following scenario: if we do not change anything, in 2030 there will be 2 people of working age for 1 pensioner, now the ratio is 1: 4. Means,that - roughly speaking - there will be almost two times less money for retirement benefits. The labor department proposes to raise the retirement age by three months a year. If the project was adopted, in 28 years - in 2040 - women and men would work until the age of 67, and there would be 3 working people per 1 retiree. Even with such changes, we will acutely feel the effects of population aging.
Retirees are looking for a job
And not only because of a lean retirement age. Leaving your job seems like an idyll at first, it gives you a feeling of freedom and relief. You don't have to get up in the morning, you don't have to be nervous about the boss's face. But in many cases, this honeymoon syndrome does not last very long. Then there are problems related to the lack of a fixed order of the day, too much free time, loss of contacts with colleagues from work. Therefore, retirees are increasingly looking for a job, not so exhausting, not full-time, but allowing them to maintain their psychophysical fitness.
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