Changing Work and Retirement

The fall in the proportion of older workers in paid employment has been a major social trend over the past two decades in most industrialized countries. The trend has been especially marked among men and in Britain, for example, half the men aged 60-64 and a third aged 55-59 are no longer in paid work. The authors examine how this situation has developed and consider the social policy and sociological implications of the growth both of early exit from the labour force and of retirement as a social and economic institution. They analyze how the transitions between work and retirement has become more complex; how the pathways include sickness and unemployment as well as early retirement; and how the transition is influenced by gender and social class. They also set out an agenda for policy change towards able workers and retirement which takes full account of the demographic changes which mean a scarcity of youngsters entering the labour market and a greater demand for older workers.