Should there be a retirement age in the U.S.A. Social Sciences Essay

Should There Be a Retirement Age in the United States?
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Should there be a retirement age in the United States?
The debate as to whether there should be a mandatory retirement age in the U.S keeps on resurfacing whenever the discussion on social security retirement age is brought up. In the U.S today, the mandatory retirement policy is marked as illegal in the majority of the states and actually in most professions. This is with the exception of a certain professions that are somewhat parlous such as military service, commercial pilots, traffic controllers and federal law enforcement agent policy. In the 1970s, almost a half of the American population were subjected to the rule of mandatory retirement, whereby they had to leave their job at the ages of 63 and 65. The current situation was a result of the abolishment of the mandatory retirement by the Congress through the amendment of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act in 1986. In general, the idea of forcing employees to retire when they hit a particular age carries with it both boons and banes that have remained controversial and relative in different professions. Consequently, the mandatory retirement age should not be there in the U.S because it leads to loss of experience and income.
Loss of experience is a major concern when talented, skilled, and experienced employees are forced to retire. Work experience is a vital element in any type of job and this comes with age. Some jobs such as medical surgery and pilot require high knowledgeable and skilled personnel to be carried out effectively and efficiently. Many organizations, as well as professions, had been setting mandatory retirement ages of 63 and 65 years. A research by the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) revealed that 55% of employees retiring at the age of 65 are capable of continuing with their work for an additional 10 years. Actually, this suggests that much valuable supply of labor force is prematurely cut short by mandatory retirement. In addition, loss of ex...