Like most budgetary measures, the Abbott government’s plan to increase the retirement age to 70 will be strongly felt in the north-western suburbs.
While I can imagine sitting at a desk writing missives such as this well into old age, it’s a lot to ask for people whose work is mostly labour intensive.
For those who can’t work until they’re 70, the financial burden will be worse.
Blue-collar workers approaching retirement age have not had the benefit of superannuation most of their working lives.
Superannuation wasn’t compulsory and was mostly a management perk until the early 1990s, meaning many people approaching retirement won’t have a significant nest egg.
Small-business people, stay-at-home mums and migrants will be even worse off.
Meanwhile, the government has axed the Income Super Contribution scheme for low-income earners.
