Age Against the Machine: Why retirement is broken and what to do about it - Lucy Standing - Middling Along

Written By Emma Thomas

Retirement was introduced in the UK in 1948, when life expectancy was 66. It was designed to support people for about a year. So why are we still treating 65 as the cliff edge — and accepting a model that funnels women out of the workforce just as their crystallised intelligence peaks?

This week I'm joined by Lucy Standing, founder of Brave Starts, co-author of Age Against the Machine: New Rules for Working in an Ageist World, Telegraph careers columnist, and contributor to OECD policy on older workers. Lucy is sharp, evidence-led, and refreshingly impatient with the way the labour market wastes people in their 50s and 60s.

We talk about:

  • Why retirement as we know it is a 1940s solution being applied to a problem that no longer exists

  • The difference between fluid intelligence (peaks at 19) and crystallised intelligence (peaks in your late 40s and 50s) — and why most hiring still measures the wrong one

  • The OECD-backed Generation study where 89% of older hires performed at or above expectations, against hiring managers' predictions

  • Why "I want to do something more purposeful" is the dominant driver for workers over 50 — and money ranks sixth

  • Why the jobs board model is broken if you're trying to pivot, and what to do instead (hint: stop hitting "easy apply")

  • The would-be hotelier who almost spent his life savings on a Lake District boutique — and the two days that saved him

  • Why we'll happily pay £30k for a degree but balk at paying for two days of practical experience in the field we're considering

  • The 82-year-old woman whose letter changed how Lucy thinks about loneliness, work, and contribution

If you've ever felt invisible in the job market after 50, been told you're "overqualified," or watched a brilliant friend get screened out by an applicant tracking system, this one's for you.

Links:

Other episodes you might enjoy:

Emma Thomas https://www.thetripleshift.org
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