94: The Politics of Age - Dr. Catherine Rickwood

The Politics of Everything

Age is just a number, right? Much of the modern world revolves around our age – are we too young or too old for a certain outfit or job or can we defy our age with new skincare products and exercise and diet regimes? I met today’s guest, Dr. Catherine Rickwood, on the speaking circuit some years ago. She is a thought leader and subject matter expert on the topic of aging. Among her academic achievements, Catherine holds a Ph.D. from the University of Sydney which she acquired at the youthful age of 48. Her doctoral studies sparked a curiosity about retirement that led to her TEDx talk entitled ‘Retirement is Redundant’. Dr. Rickwood believes that being curious about how we live, work, and play at any age and life stage is essential. She considers the idea of educate-work-retire an outdated life plan. A useless paradigm given that we live for so long. She says it’s time to get creative about how we use the extra 20+ healthy years we've been given. Using those years throughout our life rather than saving them up until our 60's. Catherine also suggests that gap years are something we can embrace at any age. They do not need to be the sole possession of school leavers. She specialises in working with corporates to enhance their business strategies and adapting them to the changing age structure of our population.

We discuss in this podcast:

1. The notion of age being just a number – why?
2. How can we overcome the disconnect between living longer, and wanting or needing to be in paid work and the issue of ageism? Older workers seem to be getting younger!
3. Why don’t you think we should retire and how realistic is that we age and our mental and physical well-being can decline and impact their skills and ability to work longer?
4. How can businesses better adapt to suit a multi-generational workforce? (examples and ideas or case studies please)

1. What is her biggest message for us on The Politics of Age?

To connect to Catherine go to Catherine Rickwood PhD | LinkedIn