Elderly should work 'as long as able' says Blunkett
PENSIONERS should work as long as they are physically capable and take greater responsibility for paying for their care as they grow infirm, David Blunkett, a former Cabinet minister, suggested yesterday.
The former home secretary – who also spent a year in charge of UK pensions policy – called for an end to the assumption that the state had "prime responsibility" for supporting people through "the ever-increasing years of retirement".
Mr Blunkett, who left the Cabinet for a second time three years ago, said to the Counsel and Care charity in London that people should be prepared to use the value of their homes to pay for their care rather than leaving their properties to relatives.
About 700 billion is thought to be tied up in homes owned by pensioners in the UK.
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Weather for Edinburgh
Thursday 16 February 2012
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