For many in this part of the world, retirement is not something they are looking forward to. But for those in ageing societies, it is an opportunity to look not only for a new job, but even a new career. Retirement therefore is not to be dreaded but to be embraced. A report in an Arabic language newspaper gave a fresh perspective to life after retirement. It offered instances of people actually starting on a new professional life in their mid-60s — the retirement age in most countries. There was Lucy Kellaway, the acclaimed British business journalist, who in her late 50s decided to become a math teacher. She also set up Now Teach, where people approaching retirement age or uninterested in continuing with their careers can join and shift their career. Doctors, artists, lawyers and journalists applied to join with a view to have a change of professional interests.
Europe — where the percentage of people over 60 will rise from 12 per cent in 2015 to 22 per cent in 2050 — is offering opportunities for people near retirement age or have retired. The fact that Europe is getting “older” means it cannot maintain its welfare programmes without new funds coming into social security accounts from a younger working generation. Some countries are even extending the retirement age. In Canada, the age of retirement is 67 at present. (But The government has said it would bring it down to 65). Sweden plans to increase it from 65 to 66 years. Some countries give women the right to ask for retirement at 55. In others, employees are entitled to retire either at 65 or after 25 years of service, whichever comes first.
The situation is different in the Arab countries. The region is described as “young” because of the high youth representation, which constitute nearly 32 per cent of the population. Most people retire at the age of 60, while the lucky ones would work an additional two to three years.
There is a need to let in the younger generation into the labour force. Even then, why not allow people to work as long as they can. There are not many privileges for retired people in the Arab world to enjoy after retirement. There are no senior discounts, tourism packages or social activities tailored for them. Allowing them to continue working, at least for those who wish to, would lead to adding more to pension funds. Deficits in pension funds in several countries are expected to rise fourfold to $223 trillion by 2050 … unless people are allowed to work for longer years and save more.
In the Arab world, the picture might “look good at face value”, but it is different when zooming in. Though only 4.4 per cent of the Arab population was above 65 by 2016, there are differing demographic transitions in terms of ageing. By 2030, Morocco, Tunisia and Lebanon will have the highest percentage of citizens above 65, with 10.6, 12.4 and 14.1 per cent, respectively. This requires more expenditure into health care and pension needs. More investments in social security, health, education and job creation will be needed across the Arab world. Until then, people should be allowed to continue working and add to the funds.
