Retirement in the 21st Century

The transition from work to retirement remains one of the major turning points within an individual's life course, as it entails a variety of significant changes. Income and occupational prestige may decrease, but so does work-related stress; similarly, work-related social networks may loosen, but private networks can be strengthened and time is freed up for formerly neglected or new tasks and activities. Studies have explored why people retire (individual motivations), how they retire (institutional pathways), and how retirement affects different dimensions of older adults’ lives, including their health, wellbeing, finances, social networks and activities. We know that individuals retire in different ways and perceive/experience their retirement differently. This is likely to be influenced by the nature of their (previous) employment and by their gender, marital status, ethnicity, and social class. Retirement transitions may also be influenced by welfare legislation in a particular country and by discourses and norms around ‘right’ retirement ages.

Against this backdrop, the session invites contributions that are is concerned with new pathways in retirement research, changes in the ways people retire and experiences this transition, as well as the (re-)production of social inequalities within the transition from work to retirement. It particularly welcomes contributions that propose innovative theoretical and conceptual perspectives on this issue, that are concerned with emerging mechanisms in this (re-)production, and that focus on new risk groups. It accepts contributions using quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods.