The bus shelter shines a harsh yellow light on the dark winter morning at 6:10 a.m. Marie, 71, is next to the teenagers with headphones on and the delivery guy staring at his phone. She is holding a shopping cart that has been turned into her work bag. She used to be a teacher in elementary school. Now she cleans offices in the city center six mornings a week, starting before the sun comes up and ending just as the talk shows start praising “record employment figures” and “historic growth.”
When she pulls on the rubber gloves, her hands hurt. Every time she bends, her knees hurt. Smiling ministers on TV say that seniors are “more active than ever.”
They are just more tired than ever on the ground.
When your “golden years” become a second, unpaid job
At lunchtime, go to any grocery store and look closely at the people behind the register. The white hair, the slow, quiet way of moving, and the hidden compression socks under the pants. Thousands of seniors, who are technically retired, are back at the register, on the phone, and at the entrance to the DIY store counting shopping carts because their pensions that looked good on paper don’t cover their rent, food, and electricity anymore.
Politicians talk about “longer life expectancy.” Most of these people will tell you that they are not living longer. They are just putting in more hours.
Gérard, who is 67 years old, thought he would finally have time to fish and spoil his grandkids. After working in logistics for 42 years, his pension is the same as part-time minimum wage. More than half of it goes to rent. The rest goes to bills that quietly rise each year, like ivy on a wall.
So he signs a “small” contract at a warehouse: 20 hours a week, heavy boxes, and “once in a while” night shifts. That “once in a while” turns into almost every week during busy times. The boss calls it being flexible. Gérard’s doctor says he has high blood pressure.
The math behind these individual stories is very simple. Wages stayed the same for decades, and people lost their jobs or had to work part-time jobs that weren’t stable. At the same time, housing, food, and healthcare costs went through the roof. Pensions were based on salaries that didn’t match real prices, and then reforms quietly raised the retirement age and cut benefits.
So, by the time they turn 62, 64, or 67, a whole generation has bodies that are worn out from physical work, a pension that has lost value in real terms, and a cost of living that is out of control. Politicians think it’s a success when they brag about how many seniors are “still active.” A lot of those older people call it survival.
How tired older people are of organizing, fighting back, and slowly falling apart
Most of the time, the first thing people do on the ground is not activism but grit. Seniors can work a few extra hours cleaning, as a caregiver “for a while,” delivering things like Uber, babysitting, or seasonal work. They say to themselves that it won’t last long. They stopped going out to eat, buying new clothes, and watching Netflix. They put off going to the dentist. They “forget” to get new glasses when the ones they have don’t work right anymore.
Then there’s the small notebook that keeps track of every euro, the plastic boxes for cooking in bulk, and the electric heater that only works in half of the apartment. This isn’t the kind of extreme poverty that makes the news. It’s a lack of noise that isn’t talked about in official speeches.
Most of them were not taught to complain. People have told them to be “reasonable” and even thankful because “other countries have it worse.” So the anger grows sideways. When people leave a prescription item on the counter at the pharmacy because the co-pay is too high. When the price of stamps goes up again at the post office. When the numbers on the gas pump spin faster than their fingers on the keypad.
A 69-year-old retired cashier told me that she no longer watches political debates. “They talk about us like we’re numbers,” she said. “But when my washing machine broke, no one came with a bar graph to help me pay for it.” Let’s be honest: no one really pays attention to a generation unless it stops something, votes a lot, or falls apart.
Politicians say that older people “choose to stay active” because they “enjoy social connection.” Some people do, and that’s something to be proud of. The issue arises when this agreeable option gradually transforms into a burdensome obligation. When the “voluntary” part-time job is really the difference between food and overdraft fees.
Social workers are quietly keeping track of the rise of “cumulants,” or people who work while collecting a pension. For the very rich, it’s a choice of how to live. For a lot of other people, it’s a way out of a bad situation. But both end up in the same success story: “More and more seniors are working, which shows how dynamic things are!” The official story turns a sign of economic stress into a catchy phrase. *That’s where the anger really starts to boil over.
What older people are doing to stay strong and how to avoid hurting yourself in the process
People who keep working after they retire who don’t look as tired often have one thing in common: they don’t see this extra work as a sacrifice, but as a negotiation. They ask directly about breaks, schedules, and physical strain. They don’t want to work at night. Instead of “we’ll see,” they want written contracts.
It may seem obvious, but a lot of older people will accept anything because they don’t want to be seen as “difficult.” No one wants to argue with a manager at 68. Every hour you don’t spend standing, lifting, or rushing is an hour your back, heart, and mind get to keep. At this point in the race, keeping the engine running is more important than impressing the pit crew.
There is also a quiet, stubborn skill that matters: taking what you deserve without feeling bad about it. Housing help, energy subsidies, transportation discounts, food banks that don’t ask too many questions, and debt mediation services. The system is so complicated, with so many forms and acronyms that it seems like it’s meant to wear people out. A lot of people quit halfway because they are too proud or too tired.
We’ve all been in that situation when the rules and regulations seem more important than the problem itself. That’s when a social worker, a local group, or even a neighbor who talks too much and “already did the paperwork for her cousin” can really help. Being poor at 70 is not a personal failure. It’s the price for years of small political decisions that put shareholders ahead of workers’ retirement.
This anger is starting to speak out more and more. In neighborhood meetings, union branches, and small protest groups just for retirees who have to go back to work.
“Stop calling us ‘active seniors’ like we’re in a yoga class,” said a 73-year-old former nurse at a town hall meeting. “I’m cleaning hotel rooms because my pension doesn’t cover my rent.” I’m not “active.” “I’m so tired.”
- Don’t be ashamed to talk about money
With friends, family, and groups in your area. The first step to finding answers is to speak up. - Keep a record of every euro you lose and every hour you work.
These notes can be used as weapons against employers, landlords, and even local councils. - Look for group power
Complaints that are not part of a group are less important than those that are. - Take care of your body like money
Even if it makes your boss, who is half your age, mad, say no to tasks that are clearly too hard or dangerous. - Say no to the story of shame
The problem isn’t you. Unstable work, low pensions, and high housing costs are.
When the success story doesn’t include everyone
There is a simple question behind the pretty words “silver economy” and “active aging”: what happens to a society when the people who built it can no longer afford to stop working? When the bus driver who took kids to school for years has to come back at 68 to stock supermarket shelves? When the retired nurse who held our hands in the hospital hallways sells cheap clothes in chain stores to pay the gas bill?
Seniors who are tired and angry aren’t just complaining about money. It’s a moral uprising against broken promises. They followed the rules, worked extra hours, went through restructurings, put up with wage freezes, and believed the speech about “working hard today for rest tomorrow.” Tomorrow came with a badge and a mop.
| Key point | Detail | Value for the reader |
|---|---|---|
| Hidden work of “cumulants” | Many retirees quietly take low-paid jobs to cover basic needs | Helps readers recognize a widespread but underreported reality |
| Economic dissonance | Political bragging about growth clashes with lived precarity | Gives language to a diffuse sense of injustice |
| Paths of resistance | Negotiating work conditions, claiming rights, joining groups | Offers concrete ways to cope and push back |
Frequently Asked Questions:
Question 1: Why are more retirees being forced to work instead of enjoying their pensions?
Question 2: What kinds of jobs do these “cumulant” seniors usually get?
Question 3: If a senior feels they have to take the job, how can they negotiate better conditions?
Question 4: Where can older people go for help with rising costs and low pensions?
Question 5: What can families and younger generations do to help tired seniors who are around them?
