IIS:-:
(i
w i
i? M
T
??
,
~ ...
*
'
&'
v
-1 IB
?
a
Roderick Macdonell, only 4 ft. 11 in. tall and 'Half-Pint Mac' to his workmates, is 90 and still works a five-day weeK a machinist in a plastics factory in Chesham, Bucks. internatw* syndication internal
Unwillingly
to the
Expertise wasted and great unhappiness can result from compulsory retirement at 65. Active pensioners could represent the most discontented political force in the country before
scrapheap
is
long. Their collective voice is to be heard
beginning
the by-products of our new technological revolution has been the emergence on the social scene of an increasing number of relatively active pensioners. How has this come about? The drive for enhanced productivity per man unit usually involves some re-deployment of manpower and that, in turn, often leads to redundancies. The One
of
t
F. Le Gros Clark simplest
*
and most immediate way of
dealing
is to stick ( the uniform ( of retirement. The economic arguments for j so are indubitably strong and they can even interpreted to seem highly moral. In the apparel ( threatening state of our economy there is prospect of resisting these arguments or of revef j ing this new industrial trend. < a
anticipated, redundancy principle of a predetermined and
present,
or
do'j
litl;
*
a
Author of
'Work,
age and leisure' and
'Growing oil
mechanical world'.
.
I
fhe
social dilemma
which
results
from
this
lrement practice has been neatly described as ?f the 'intermediate' phase?i.e. the phase of
(th
j.at between ~
the time when a man's employment and the time when true old age sets in. it lies between the ages of 65 and ?r so. The death rate would, of course, be ln8 and carrying away an increasing proportion
^
^^tistically, .
.
?
are
subject
to acute or chronic diseases. But
Qical and social surveys suggest that
P^r
at least
cent of the survivors from year to year
ain relatively mobile, competent and activeflded. Only beyond the mid-seventies do the Portions of the more or less housebound and j mobile show any significant and progressive .
pcrease.
far .^How meet the
men
in their late sixties could continue
tests of normal industrial and com-
rc'al life is quite another question. It is better to SaY that in most instances they would have k biologically adapted with age to a more ricted and specialised working environment. sUch a working environment existed (and, at the opportunities are very limited), there u'd be no reason why they should not remain
IreT-016
s^t,
vJfUIly
productivee know well enough that Perience symptoms of stress
men
are
likely
?
to
at this
abrupt susrhythms of employ-
s'on of the week-to-week ^e familiar pattern of their mates or cqii 1 and all the accustomed marks of eagues' ide and status. The conditions of a work may or may not have been emotionally 'sfying to them in all respects, but at least they an apparently secure frame, within and which a ^air amount of flexibility could t>e eVel?Ped. So far as 'leisure' meant anything to J11' it owed its value to the element of contrast.
Plantlty
Sat-Ce
'aroVl(led
'the
sense some retired men have of being no ger 'at heart's ease' probably varies with tema*ent. Many men are not born to be good they are constitutionally activists. f?r this large group of activists that we should, m?st concerned. A good proportion ?f have ten or fifteen years of reason' ^b] ^ Unimpaired health before them?about as i0 i as their period of childhood and schooling.
1
'ltisemplatives; 0?ls tKUrSe'
| die$ S^a^l
Ro ^"industrial
'oug,'SSUe ?
,
myself entirely
to
social
reme-
of industrial history. Dr. D. H. concluded his article in the Winter of this magazine by saying: 'Retirement t0 ?Pt'onal an(l related to one's physical rnental capabilities; for it is inhuman and iititv, rai to let the young build their happiness on misery of the old.' Without pausing to qu estl?n the emphasis of his last words, we can
?Ur t
confine
cannot retreat into an earlier
Syndication International
period
or
Last call Florrie Smith retired in March as a telephone operator Newick exchange in Sussex became automatic. when the Newick and has been on the switchboard since 1928 as She is 79 and well as acting as caretaker. Now she is looking for an
evening job.
t""''
?
In April Britain's oldest butcher's boy George Rees, retired at 76 after working on the same round for a South firm for the last 63 years. In that time he has worn out six delivery bicycles.
them as a text. There are two points to be considered. The first bears on the dynamics of changing group relations in a complex society. The social groups may be economic 'class' groups or racial groups or age groups; in any case there are laws that govern the gradual shift in their relations to one another. The second point is that by 'the young' Dr. Ropschitz presumably implies members of the working population, those who, by exerting pressure, are able to raise their levels of income and so improve use
Lo^
a c
claims on the country's lim1' c It is by no means true to say ^ c industry and commerce today neglect the inter*1 of their elder ex-employees. That might have be a so in the nineteenth century but moral attituc e have been changing perceptibly. p ^n We can do no more than indicate their
own
resources.
signs influences, making for a solution, are slov fc gathering pace. As for the conflicting claims f social groups (in this case age-groups), it is d' n that, until the members of a minority or an uo^ social
Privileged
group begin to cohere into a conscious movement, they never establish their ainis and rights against the settled cultural asrnptions of a dominant group. Throughout history this has remained one of the laws
Pressure
^
^fiian social
?*
change.
Communal tensions grow as 'nority advance their claims.
the members of a The theorists of a ?minant group counter by arguing that these e?ple, as individuals, ought to be integrated into Z1 idealised community. But it is obvious that ere will never again be a true community until ? claims of the underprivileged have been ad( and the social tensions have begun to sub; cjj eWhat evidence have we, then, that pensions are being prompted to fashion a campaigning ^eir own? Not, I think, in the I "npie spread of 'clubs'; most of these seem nonitical, merely recreational in purpose, he symptoms we are looking for lie in the growth of many pensioner associations a *,rent fellowships. It is here that we can see the a akening social functions of industrial, comand administrative organisations. We are a industrialised nation and, in the ja cornPanies, a sense of wider responsibilities beyond the limits of the office and the ?P floor. It is gradually stretching out to enc ProsPective school leavers to come along have an initial period of unpaid work experi^ the other end of the age factory
s^Vernent
r?ial
k?roughly
*
-
isf^er ^tretching anri^6
scaf
-< -?
stretching out to incorporate a proporret*red volunteers into schemes of indus.Welfare. Industrial firms* rarely, in the past, r ricted their welfare or personnel services to who were still actually employed; a pensioner the company might legitimately seek legal or ^ Itles^c in Case advice, or ask for some financial support ?*- an emergency. But the whole principle is becoming regularised, built into the system welfare. 1 earliest pensioner associations and the fell were self-constituted bodies, more or Professional in composition, e.g. retired civil Serv ants, post office staff, teachers, fire brigade oyees. They had, of course, their social but they were also, and perhaps mainly, with superannuation levels and the incidence of hardship among their *s
tio
tri
i
of?-
1 ?
I
0,Q?W
j^dustrial
| leSs0VVs^'Ps
e
J
C(?ects> 0ccCerned CN,asi?nal jyfa?Uesrecently
an increasing number of industries arg ?r^ their long-term ex-employ^berately inviting ees to remain connected with a com-
p
^
^ 5
d;
fu
^ 111
organically by joining its pensioner association for suPPort> visiting schemes, and referring cases of hardship to a central benevolent 0r welfare department. A further develophas been the promotion by a few large cities
of Retirement Councils, presided over by a Lord Mayor or Lord Provost. They depend to a great extent on subsidies from the industries of their areas. Their function is that of planning courses of self-preparation, linking pensioners into loose associations, and designing opportunities for shared practical and intellectual activities. This does not add up to a total solution, nor does an occasional employer starting a special pensioner workshop on his premises, or helping to subsidise a local voluntary employment bureau for widening the range of part-time jobs. But we can, I think, observe a trend. Healthy trends are not there to be observed only, but to be accelerated in a desired direction. To a greater degree than is usually recognised, the moral conscience of the nation is now passing to our industrial and administrative concerns, with
their joint negotiating committees, shop stewards, welfare departments, pensions officers and the rest. industrial bargaining often centres on wage levels and hours of work, but the case is usually argued on both sides in terms of fairness, justice and the propriety of human relations on the shop floor. Employers and employees are both becoming aware that smooth production depends on the maintenance of smooth and frank relations between them. There is no doubt that, in theory at least, the spread of these industrial pensioner fellowships could consolidate into large and formidable pressure groups. One of the most perceptive of our M.P.s is Mr. Douglas Houghton. 'How,' he has written, 'is the nation going to keep eight and a half million retirement pensioners happy in What will it take to keep them from 1976? being the most discontented political force in the country? They will be fit enough to march, and could be a rival to student power.' Psychologically this may be a very proper sentiment. What part is being played by the industries? The new industrial tendency to welcome prospective school leavers for a short period of educative initiation, and the tendency to run discussion courses for prospective pensioners on a day release basis?all of these are, in reality, an unconscious reversion to primitive custom. We need what anthropologists call our rites de passage at both ends of the age scale. So far, the movements are still embryonic and experimental. They have to be studied and developed, as have all innovations?social no less than technological. To study them lies especially within the field of mental health, because we are here dealing with individuals at the two crises in life most exposed to stress?the adolescent in transition from school to work, and the mature man in transition from the rhythms of work into retirement. ?
Certainly,
.
.
.
9
(i
w i
i? M
T
??
,
~ ...
*
'
&'
v
-1 IB
?
a
Roderick Macdonell, only 4 ft. 11 in. tall and 'Half-Pint Mac' to his workmates, is 90 and still works a five-day weeK a machinist in a plastics factory in Chesham, Bucks. internatw* syndication internal
Unwillingly
to the
Expertise wasted and great unhappiness can result from compulsory retirement at 65. Active pensioners could represent the most discontented political force in the country before
scrapheap
is
long. Their collective voice is to be heard
beginning
the by-products of our new technological revolution has been the emergence on the social scene of an increasing number of relatively active pensioners. How has this come about? The drive for enhanced productivity per man unit usually involves some re-deployment of manpower and that, in turn, often leads to redundancies. The One
of
t
F. Le Gros Clark simplest
*
and most immediate way of
dealing
is to stick ( the uniform ( of retirement. The economic arguments for j so are indubitably strong and they can even interpreted to seem highly moral. In the apparel ( threatening state of our economy there is prospect of resisting these arguments or of revef j ing this new industrial trend. < a
anticipated, redundancy principle of a predetermined and
present,
or
do'j
litl;
*
a
Author of
'Work,
age and leisure' and
'Growing oil
mechanical world'.
.
I
fhe
social dilemma
which
results
from
this
lrement practice has been neatly described as ?f the 'intermediate' phase?i.e. the phase of
(th
j.at between ~
the time when a man's employment and the time when true old age sets in. it lies between the ages of 65 and ?r so. The death rate would, of course, be ln8 and carrying away an increasing proportion
^
^^tistically, .
.
?
are
subject
to acute or chronic diseases. But
Qical and social surveys suggest that
P^r
at least
cent of the survivors from year to year
ain relatively mobile, competent and activeflded. Only beyond the mid-seventies do the Portions of the more or less housebound and j mobile show any significant and progressive .
pcrease.
far .^How meet the
men
in their late sixties could continue
tests of normal industrial and com-
rc'al life is quite another question. It is better to SaY that in most instances they would have k biologically adapted with age to a more ricted and specialised working environment. sUch a working environment existed (and, at the opportunities are very limited), there u'd be no reason why they should not remain
IreT-016
s^t,
vJfUIly
productivee know well enough that Perience symptoms of stress
men
are
likely
?
to
at this
abrupt susrhythms of employ-
s'on of the week-to-week ^e familiar pattern of their mates or cqii 1 and all the accustomed marks of eagues' ide and status. The conditions of a work may or may not have been emotionally 'sfying to them in all respects, but at least they an apparently secure frame, within and which a ^air amount of flexibility could t>e eVel?Ped. So far as 'leisure' meant anything to J11' it owed its value to the element of contrast.
Plantlty
Sat-Ce
'aroVl(led
'the
sense some retired men have of being no ger 'at heart's ease' probably varies with tema*ent. Many men are not born to be good they are constitutionally activists. f?r this large group of activists that we should, m?st concerned. A good proportion ?f have ten or fifteen years of reason' ^b] ^ Unimpaired health before them?about as i0 i as their period of childhood and schooling.
1
'ltisemplatives; 0?ls tKUrSe'
| die$ S^a^l
Ro ^"industrial
'oug,'SSUe ?
,
myself entirely
to
social
reme-
of industrial history. Dr. D. H. concluded his article in the Winter of this magazine by saying: 'Retirement t0 ?Pt'onal an(l related to one's physical rnental capabilities; for it is inhuman and iititv, rai to let the young build their happiness on misery of the old.' Without pausing to qu estl?n the emphasis of his last words, we can
?Ur t
confine
cannot retreat into an earlier
Syndication International
period
or
Last call Florrie Smith retired in March as a telephone operator Newick exchange in Sussex became automatic. when the Newick and has been on the switchboard since 1928 as She is 79 and well as acting as caretaker. Now she is looking for an
evening job.
t""''
?
In April Britain's oldest butcher's boy George Rees, retired at 76 after working on the same round for a South firm for the last 63 years. In that time he has worn out six delivery bicycles.
them as a text. There are two points to be considered. The first bears on the dynamics of changing group relations in a complex society. The social groups may be economic 'class' groups or racial groups or age groups; in any case there are laws that govern the gradual shift in their relations to one another. The second point is that by 'the young' Dr. Ropschitz presumably implies members of the working population, those who, by exerting pressure, are able to raise their levels of income and so improve use
Lo^
a c
claims on the country's lim1' c It is by no means true to say ^ c industry and commerce today neglect the inter*1 of their elder ex-employees. That might have be a so in the nineteenth century but moral attituc e have been changing perceptibly. p ^n We can do no more than indicate their
own
resources.
signs influences, making for a solution, are slov fc gathering pace. As for the conflicting claims f social groups (in this case age-groups), it is d' n that, until the members of a minority or an uo^ social
Privileged
group begin to cohere into a conscious movement, they never establish their ainis and rights against the settled cultural asrnptions of a dominant group. Throughout history this has remained one of the laws
Pressure
^
^fiian social
?*
change.
Communal tensions grow as 'nority advance their claims.
the members of a The theorists of a ?minant group counter by arguing that these e?ple, as individuals, ought to be integrated into Z1 idealised community. But it is obvious that ere will never again be a true community until ? claims of the underprivileged have been ad( and the social tensions have begun to sub; cjj eWhat evidence have we, then, that pensions are being prompted to fashion a campaigning ^eir own? Not, I think, in the I "npie spread of 'clubs'; most of these seem nonitical, merely recreational in purpose, he symptoms we are looking for lie in the growth of many pensioner associations a *,rent fellowships. It is here that we can see the a akening social functions of industrial, comand administrative organisations. We are a industrialised nation and, in the ja cornPanies, a sense of wider responsibilities beyond the limits of the office and the ?P floor. It is gradually stretching out to enc ProsPective school leavers to come along have an initial period of unpaid work experi^ the other end of the age factory
s^Vernent
r?ial
k?roughly
*
-
isf^er ^tretching anri^6
scaf
-< -?
stretching out to incorporate a proporret*red volunteers into schemes of indus.Welfare. Industrial firms* rarely, in the past, r ricted their welfare or personnel services to who were still actually employed; a pensioner the company might legitimately seek legal or ^ Itles^c in Case advice, or ask for some financial support ?*- an emergency. But the whole principle is becoming regularised, built into the system welfare. 1 earliest pensioner associations and the fell were self-constituted bodies, more or Professional in composition, e.g. retired civil Serv ants, post office staff, teachers, fire brigade oyees. They had, of course, their social but they were also, and perhaps mainly, with superannuation levels and the incidence of hardship among their *s
tio
tri
i
of?-
1 ?
I
0,Q?W
j^dustrial
| leSs0VVs^'Ps
e
J
C(?ects> 0ccCerned CN,asi?nal jyfa?Uesrecently
an increasing number of industries arg ?r^ their long-term ex-employ^berately inviting ees to remain connected with a com-
p
^
^ 5
d;
fu
^ 111
organically by joining its pensioner association for suPPort> visiting schemes, and referring cases of hardship to a central benevolent 0r welfare department. A further develophas been the promotion by a few large cities
of Retirement Councils, presided over by a Lord Mayor or Lord Provost. They depend to a great extent on subsidies from the industries of their areas. Their function is that of planning courses of self-preparation, linking pensioners into loose associations, and designing opportunities for shared practical and intellectual activities. This does not add up to a total solution, nor does an occasional employer starting a special pensioner workshop on his premises, or helping to subsidise a local voluntary employment bureau for widening the range of part-time jobs. But we can, I think, observe a trend. Healthy trends are not there to be observed only, but to be accelerated in a desired direction. To a greater degree than is usually recognised, the moral conscience of the nation is now passing to our industrial and administrative concerns, with
their joint negotiating committees, shop stewards, welfare departments, pensions officers and the rest. industrial bargaining often centres on wage levels and hours of work, but the case is usually argued on both sides in terms of fairness, justice and the propriety of human relations on the shop floor. Employers and employees are both becoming aware that smooth production depends on the maintenance of smooth and frank relations between them. There is no doubt that, in theory at least, the spread of these industrial pensioner fellowships could consolidate into large and formidable pressure groups. One of the most perceptive of our M.P.s is Mr. Douglas Houghton. 'How,' he has written, 'is the nation going to keep eight and a half million retirement pensioners happy in What will it take to keep them from 1976? being the most discontented political force in the country? They will be fit enough to march, and could be a rival to student power.' Psychologically this may be a very proper sentiment. What part is being played by the industries? The new industrial tendency to welcome prospective school leavers for a short period of educative initiation, and the tendency to run discussion courses for prospective pensioners on a day release basis?all of these are, in reality, an unconscious reversion to primitive custom. We need what anthropologists call our rites de passage at both ends of the age scale. So far, the movements are still embryonic and experimental. They have to be studied and developed, as have all innovations?social no less than technological. To study them lies especially within the field of mental health, because we are here dealing with individuals at the two crises in life most exposed to stress?the adolescent in transition from school to work, and the mature man in transition from the rhythms of work into retirement. ?
Certainly,
.
.
.
9
