Can we afford a long life?

Paul Schroder says the nature of our work is changing and the significance and reliance of super will increase — especially as we are all living longer.

In 2002, for every person aged 65 and over, there were about 5.3 people working. By 2043, this will decrease to about 2.5 people. That means less people doing more work to maintain health and other services for a burgeoning older population.

Simultaneously, the nature of work has changed so that there is more contract, casual and self employed workers. Australian Super’s Paul Schroder tells 3Q the great challenge for super is to ensure these people continue to make contributions to secure their retirement. Considering one in three children born today will reach 100, super should take equal priority to the family home when it comes to finances.

Interests Represented by Parties

Q. Which political party do you think best represents the interests of –

The Labor Party is considered the party which best represents the interests of working people on low and average incomes, people on welfare and pensioners. The Liberal Party is considered best at representing the interests of people on high incomes, big business, small business and self-employed, rural and regional Australians and the next generation. The Greens’ main strengths are in representing the next generation, indigenous people and ethnic communities.

There was little difference between the major parties in terms of representing the interests of families with young children, students, indigenous people and ethnic communities.

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