“People simply empty out”

Re:“People simply empty out” by greenyoda on Thursday August 15, 2013 @08:35PM (#6221508)

Working until 80 might sound reasonable to a software developer, but if you have a job like a construction worker or a firefighter, you may not be physically capable of doing your job at 80, even part time. So you'd have to switch careers to work into your 80s, which not everyone would be successful at pulling off.

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Re:“People simply empty out” by _delirium on Thursday August 15, 2013 @08:46PM (#6221546)

I agree that's an open question. Whether a large proportion of people could work in some job up to age 80 (possibly after changing jobs) is definitely an important part of whether it would produce a plausible system.

It doesn't have to be the same job, or to be gap-free, though. If you have a strong retraining/welfare system to cover the gaps, as Denmark has, it's not as big a deal if someone needs to take a year or two off to change jobs. If you can't do your job anymore at some point for health reasons, there is a generous system for disability leave. And, a common unemployment insurance system (a-kasse) covers being unemployed for up to two years, with up to ~$36k/yr salary and retraining / job-finding assistance. As a last resort, there's a floor of ~$22k/yr welfare that anyone can get if they have no other source of income, with no time limits. That's comparable to the low end of U.S. Social Security, so at least nobody would really end up with no income.

The wager is that enough people would be productive post-65 to have a significant overall effect.

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Re:“People simply empty out” by ttflee on Friday August 16, 2013 @03:02PM (#6226080)

> a large proportion of people could work in some job up to age 80 (possibly after changing jobs)

It would be an interesting question given most of the aged people change their job. Then those categories of jobs would probably be overrun by aged people seeking those jobs, and hence poor wages and rampant unemployment.

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Re:“People simply empty out” by dagw on Friday August 16, 2013 @02:43AM (#6222523)

There must be several things you can do with 30 years of firefighting experience that is useful to others without you needing to physically go out an fight fires, especially if you, financially, only need to work one or two days a week.

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Re:“People simply empty out” by homosaur on Friday August 16, 2013 @12:06AM (#6222122)

Assuming robots haven't taken over software development

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Re:“People simply empty out” by sergiosgc on Friday August 16, 2013 @11:13AM (#6224452)

By the time robots take over software development, they will also be causing such a disruption in all other work positions that society as a whole will have to find a different paradigm from the current "everybody works for a living".

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