In theory true, but in practice, the difference between being unable to work and unable to be hired due to ageism is very small. If, for example, you're unhira

In theory true, but in practice, the difference between being unable to work and unable to be hired due to ageism is very small. If, for example, you're unhirable over 50 for all practical purposes, even if you can do the work until you're 70, its somewhat cruel to use that as a justification to raise the retirement age to 70. There are stamina issues to consider. My grandmother liked knitting; in theory her retirement age should have been 85 because she was knitting until at least then when the arthritis hit too hard, but in practice she wouldn't live thru a single 12 hour shift at a textile mill, not that it matters because almost all the jobs are gone, and what very few remain would not go to an 85 year old woman. Likewise I am a pretty good software dev but I don't think I could produce under subpar conditions like an open office; its not that I can't program, its that I can't program there.