“All people have the right to continue living, and if work is the way, then it cannot be stopped. Please send your CV and it will be judged on par with the rest… Don’t limit yourself to age….
And whoever received these lines in response to a letter sent earlier to see if their retired mother could apply for a new job jumped for joy. “You see so little today that doors open to the oldest without hesitation.”
It’s not impossible, of course, but it happens often, he muses. And age should not be an obstacle if knowledge and character remain,” he says. However, how many such stories, and not vice versa, can we find? How many people over 60 have different experiences?
Ageism, a term coined by Robert Butler in the 1960s, refers to existing stereotypes and prejudices about age. It’s about categorization, division… The most common victims all over the world are the elderly, although the youngest suffer in the same way in many cases “due to lack of experience”. The one that, if they don’t start working, they’ll never have.
But let’s get back to everyday realities… How many calls for competitions do not limit those who want to participate, setting the age limits? How many opportunities do we lose by not reaching the “ideal” number, even if we have the right knowledge? Don’t we feel slighted when, in some suspicious tone, we are asked how old we are?
Decree-Law 36/2021 amending Law 105 on Social Security of December 27, 2008, approved by the Council of State, gives preference to old-age pensioners, both those who are already working and those who, after this approval, decided to join. Thus, they can receive a pension and the full salary of their position.
Retirees who return to work after 45 years of service and work for another five years will be eligible for a two percent increase in their pension for each of those years, and therefore will not be subject to the 90 percent cap.
And these benefits come at a time when Cuba’s demographic panorama is showing a growing trend towards aging, and it would be unwise to underestimate, ignore, or underestimate what more the most experienced people can still contribute.
You may know absolutely positive life stories, but the truth is that even at the institutional and personal level, such views abound; which, unfortunately, bring with them arrogant ageism, self-restraint of people who themselves become the first link of self-censorship, low self-esteem, self-denial.
The letter received by the daughter testifies to respect and, above all, sympathy. Ending ageism should be a priority in a society where we are needed by everyone, with all our might, regardless of age.
Source: Juventud Rebelde
