[nl]

I've worked agricultural jobs. We worked 8 hours a day, with a 15 minute "smoko" break after 2 hours, 1/2 hour lunch break after 4 hours, and another 15 minute break after 6. (This is in Australia, and was these were the award conditions)

Except when we were on breaks we were continually working.

[humanrebar]

Fair enough, but can you do that until you're 80? And what happens when you have a serious knee problem or a pregnancy?

I suspect it's exceptional that someone can do physical labor for 40 hours a week for 45 weeks a year for 60 years.

The common response is, "Well, yeah, but you should retire at some point." And that's a fair response, but farm workers are severely under-charging if they expect to work for 30 years (to make up a number) and then be retired for 25+ years.

[dropit_sphere]

>but farm workers are severely under-charging

Farm workers are not charging. If they had the market power to set a price, they wouldn't be doing farm work.

[foobarqux]

People worked in factories for 14+ hours of continuous work.

[cowabunga]

My mother in law broke after 30 years of this. She now costs thousands each month in disability, housing, medical and mobility costs.

[humanrebar]

At what life expectancy? And, again, what happened if they were injured?

[foobarqux]

I'm not saying it was good, only that it happened.

[mcguire]

The ability to survive for 25 years of retirement is a relatively new phenomenon. The economy likely hasn't had a chance to catch up.

[georgemcbay]

We only really live about 6 and a half years longer than we would prior to the industrial revolution on average. This relatively modest number is obscured somewhat by overall life expectancy averages which are buoyed by drastically reduced infant mortality.

In any case, the political/economic response has been to move up the age of retirement, which isn't helpful to the long term knee health of the hypothetical farmer worker here.

[ejstronge]

  We only really live about 6 and a half years longer than we 
  would prior to the industrial revolution on average. This 
  relatively modest number is obscured somewhat by overall  
  life expectancy averages which are buoyed by drastically  
  reduced infant mortality.

I haven't heard this before - where are you getting your data?

[mahyarm]

Life expectancy numbers should be quoted at 'life expectancy at 10 years old' if you want to filter out child mortality in the past.

[afterburner]

Certain economic actors don't want it to catch up.

[jsmeaton]

Yup. The right-wing Australian government have just moved the retirement age from 65 to 70. What a joke.

[_broody]

It's a lot easier to stay focused on physical jobs, if only because they keep your blood flowing.

In contrast, office employees chug a lot of stimulants every day (coffee) and still manage to spend the afternoon fighting off drowsiness.

[deadfall]

I disagree somewhat. Repetitious physical work can make you lose focus quite easily and that is when most accidents occur. On the contrary, office employees that drink lots of coffee and being drowsy doesn't have to do with work necessarily, but with the their bodies being immune to the caffeine.

[tomarr]

Even agricultural jobs you can't consistently (as in year round) do that. Seasonal variations, set-up times and travelling all factor into this.