some yrs back when they decided to stretch the retirement age, they probably had in mind that there should never be retirement for sgporeans. under normal circumstances worldwide (especially 1st world countries), the labor unions enforce minimum wage policies for all levels of qualifications, so to ensure & enhance the social security system.
eg: a graduate (regardless of discipline), could be holding a job of a road builder (aka civil etchnician/engineer) or toilet cleaner (aka environment technician/engineer), bt the union will enforce that he/she holds a remuneration package comparitive to other graduate in the workforce. the union also enforces recommended working hours in a week, so it helps to ensure that more ppl r being employed (with adequate rests), while operations arent compromised for any business owners/ employers.
in doing so, it brings about work-life balance in the households, where ppl can spend quality time at home - family bonding etc, while couples would less likely be too stressed out to skip making babies.
conversely, the union here is telling ppl to stop grumbling n settle for less. be contented if u have a job (bt wat good does it make if both spouses combined income barely make ends meet?) not forgetting employers these days r most happy to hire FTs for less, while FTs r more than happy to put in extra hours at work (a good fraction of them r here alone, they've nothing much to do - as their families r back home n they dont mind putting extra hrs into work)
while cost of living n financial liabilities these days r escalating. should the workforce continue to b numb n contented with the miserable income that doesnt make ends meet. if naturally means, ppl cant really afford necessities. ppl start taking loans from banks left right n center. taking eons to furnish the loans, n when they finally do... they're already in their 50s n 60s. no savings = continue slaving
in many cases when ppl r up n their age while productivity n adaptibility to newer technologies naturally slow down. employers also take the opportunity to slash their remunerations, or even, lay them off. hence, resulting in the aged having to continue slaving for much lesser for a livelihood, till they kick the bucket. regardless how many more new courses that 1 can seek to upgrade, employers will nt hesitate to hire the younger & aspiring freshies, or perhaps the more than willing FTs. (as is, there's already insufficient jobs in the mkt to meet the demands of annual graduants from our local varisities, polytechnics, private colleges, as well as foreign students - who're required to obligated 3yrs of labor upon graduation)
as much as they emphasize so much about wanting to make this a 1st world country.... sad to say ppl r starting to live lives as if, in 3rd world country.