Australia has a worker shortage, yet we penalise retirees who are willing and able to fill many vacancies.
My dearest friend, Julie, and I always wanted to go on a trip to Scotland, but work, family and life kept getting in the way. Now we both have some time, but Julie’s called the trip off. When I asked why, she said: “I can’t afford it, and if I earn more, I will lose my pension.”Older workers are discouraged from working by inflexible pension rules.Julie paid tax her entire working life. Since she retired, she has supplemented her meagre pension income by teaching swimming.
Australia’s pensioners can earn up to $300 a fortnight or $7800 a year without affecting their entitlements. If they earn more, they receive lower pensions.Otherwise, she also risks losing part of her pension. Australia needs workers in sectors such as health, education, hospitality, agriculture and more. So why not get our pensioners back into the workforce? It sounds like common sense to me.
There is proof that older people being socially interactive and working longer delays mental and physical decline, which dramatically affects costs of our aged care and health systems., if we had an additional 5 per cent of Australians over the age of 55 back in the workforce, it would boost GDP by $48 billion.
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