A decade of Your Time issues revisited

Many of us have been known to say something happened “a few weeks ago” before realising it was actually more like a couple of years. And so it was that I realised it wasn’t a few years but a decade ago that Your Time was launched.

The vision was clear from the start.

We baby boomers have been hogging the statistical limelight all  our lives through sheer weight of numbers. Add those born up to the  end of World War II and there was plenty to write about. In an age of social media, clickbait and fake news,  Your Time covers the issues that matter to the generation.

When retirement, menopause and dementia have become more relevant than parenting and job satisfaction, and an empty nest is more likely than a full house, it doesn’t matter where you live.

For someone nudging 60, it was the dream assignment: an opportunity to continue writing for the same audience I had been writing for since the 1970s.

It has been quite a journey. So, please indulge me, dear reader, as we review how Your Time has reflected the life of the ‘older’ generation.

Jobs, finances, living options and the vexed question of retirement have been perennial hot topics.

Add the aches and pains of body parts wearing out, and expectations for the future, and we have had quite a mix.

In 2023, 55 per cent of Australians over 55 were retired – 3.9 million older Australians had left the workforce.

About 3.4 million older people continued to work in some capacity. Your Time has looked at mid-life career changes and found many chose to remain employed. Second-wind  workers threw caution to the wind and quit the boring job that paid the mortgage for something they had always wanted to do.

Your Time has scrutinised the age pension. For many, getting a pension was not as simple as hoped and expected. For decades, we imagined that when it was our turn, we would simply sign on and receive the age pension we had been paying into since starting our first job last century.

Not so. In the 2016-17 financial year, about 25 per cent of claims were rejected. By June 2022, 2.6 million Australians were receiving the age pension (or about 58 per cent of the population aged 65 and over).

Then there’s been the persistent question in our pages of housing:  do we want to stay in the big, empty family home alone or is it time to consider a retirement village with access to a nursing home? We might build a granny flat near one of the kids or downsize to an apartment or a smaller home in an over-50s village, with many of them now billed as retirement resorts.

And downsizing means decluttering. You don’t have to be a hoarder to  have cupboards full of books and china cabinets bursting with ‘good’ glassware, or furniture inherited from your grandfather. The big question is: what to do with it? Let’s face it, the kids will probably just toss it out, as it’s not their Grade 1 report card, love letter or  first airline ticket. So, the pile has to be cleared or at least thinned. Saying goodbye to souvenirs of the ‘good old days’ can be a disheartening and daunting job, as we outlined.

Then there’s all that free time to fill, although I have yet to hear of a retiree being bored. Rather, most lament that they don’t know how they managed to fit in a full-time job.

For some, retirement is an opportunity to travel more, either overseas or doing a lap of Australia.

Over the years, Your Time considered the pros and cons of moving offshore for the high life of an expat: house sitting at home or abroad; house swapping; and becoming a grey cruiser choosing ship life rather than a retirement home.

Then, there were cautionary tales of ‘modern burglars’ entering your home via telephone and internet, and elder abuse. But easily the most controversial Your Time topics were booze and sex.

Our Christmas 2016 report – that we have turned into a generation of drinkers who regularly enjoy a tipple – caused a flurry of indignation. Our investigation revealed that those over 70 were the most likely to drink daily, and that older people pour alcoholic drinks 16-32 per cent larger than a standard drink.

A cover picture of the psychedelic 1960s with the headline: ‘Sex in the sixties’ had readers horrified at the prospect of activities in the 1960s being scrutinised. In fact, we addressed the subject of those in their 60s who resent the ageist perception that older people are not sexual. We also reported on loss of a partner, giving marriage another go and internet dating.

The stereotype that ‘old people’ wear white and play bowls is long gone, too. We spoke to surfers who first paddled out in the 1960s and are still looking for a wave in their 60s – and 70s; and to old rockers still playing their music.

There are choirs, men’s sheds, bushwalkers, volunteers, citizen scientists and University of the Third Age studies, and for some, the opportunity to write the book they’ve always talked about. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Many stories and 10 years later, here I am nudging 70 and retired (almost) and still typical of the Your Time readership.

As we said at the beginning, this really is ‘your time’.

OUR writers

Your Time writers, typical of the generation, have been with us from the beginning. As one wryly scribe observed: “We could have been cast out on the scrap heap, yet here we are: well past retirement age, still doing what we love.”

Julie Lake, a colleague since the 1970s, was happy to write the lead story of the first edition in April 2015, with the headline: ‘Still rocking on’. A decade and 45 Your Time features later, she is still dancing to rock’n’roll, as well as choral singing, playing ukulele and, of course, writing. She turns 80 next month.

Audienne Blythe has been penning our history column since the first edition and has just celebrated her 85th birthday. She has also written 13 books about local history and received a gold medal from the Royal Historical Society for her services to the history of Queensland.

Bruce McMahon began as the  Your Time motoring writer a year after launch. He entered journalism in 1974 and has been writing about motoring since 1980, exclusively since 1991.

Columnist Mocco Wollert has just turned 90 and has been sharing her views with readers since June 2019. She has a huge volume of work, including her entertaining memoir Bloody Bastard Beautiful. She continues to write and publish poems and short stories.

Within months of the launch, Allan Blackburn stepped up to become Quizmaster, creating an entertaining trivia quiz every month. Sadly, Allan died unexpectedly recently, but he made a valuable contribution, filing his quizzes months in advance. He is greatly missed.