Content uploaded by David Ekerdt
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by David Ekerdt on Nov 30, 2020
Content may be subject to copyright.
On Defining Persons as Retired
Abstract
This article reviews the operational definition of retirement, which remains an unsettled issue in aging research. The authors describe five separate criteria that can be used to assign retirement status, and discuss the misleading distinction between subjective and objective indicators. Despite concerns about the possible ambiguity of retirement definitions, cross-classifications of persons on three criteria—pension receipt, reduced work or earnings, and self-definition—show considerable overlap depending on the population of interest. Much of the indeterminacy in retirement definitions can be traced to the categorical status of “partial” retirement, which is nevertheless important to recognize in research designs. In all, the ambiguity of retirement definitions can be managed, but not resolved, by using multiple criteria to specify better the retirement status. No one strategy for defining retirement suffices for all purposes; definitions should be suited to the research task at hand.
... In addition to focusing on highly accomplished women, who demonstrated successorientation at work, the current study selected retired women. There is no agreement in the literature about the definition of "retirement" (Ekerdt & DeViney, 1990). According to some, it heralds the "cessation of regular employment" (Shaw, Patterson, Semple, & Grant, 1998, p.384), whilst others describe it as an income shift to a pension or social security (Atchley, 1991). ...
... However, a "self-defined retirement" or "perceived retirement" status can be perceived more subjectively (Ekerdt & DeViney, 1990). Governments increasingly recognise this by accepting that retired people may enter into temporary work arrangements and still consider themselves retired. ...
While literature about the relationship between wellbeing and accomplishment exists, previous studies were mainly quantitative and neglected the subjective experience of female retirees, which the current study aimed to address. Three female retired charity CEOs based in the UK were interviewed using in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) yielded three themes: (1) “accomplishment and wellbeing - a potentially negative interaction”, (2) “accomplishment and wellbeing - a positive link through interaction with other wellbeing domains”, and (3) “retirement - a moderator for negative direct impacts”. The results provided a complex picture of how high-achieving women post-retirement perceived accomplishment as a contributor to their wellbeing. By highlighting an intricate link between accomplishment and other domains of wellbeing, particularly positive relationships, the findings critique that positive psychology overemphasizes the individual and highlight the need for further research into the interaction between different domains of wellbeing. The study also contributes to the debate about the relationship between age and wellbeing by illuminating the individuality of the experience depending on circumstances and environment. Finally, discussed are the implications of the current study in the context of retired high-fliers.
... This ambiguity and imprecision are widely discussed by the Academy (Beehr and Bowling, 2013;Sargent et al., 2013;McVittie and Goodall, 2012;Denton and Spencer, 2009;Ekerdt and DeViney, 1990;Ekerdt, 2010;Hardy, 2011) and have been perpetuated due to the complexity of the phenomenon and to the boundaries that cannot be well defined. ...
... The ambiguity and inaccuracy about the understanding of retirement are widely discussed by the Academy (Beehr and Bowling, 2013;Sargent et al., 2013;McVittie and Goodall, 2012;Hardy, 2011;Ekerdt, 2010;Ekerdt and DeViney, 1990). There are studies regarding the complexity of the phenomenon itself and the fragile chronological boundaries of what "elderly" really means. ...
Purpose: This paper aims to reflect on retirement, showing its different viewpoints, advocating the need to understand the issue from a procedural and multidimensional perspective, and especially, defending a more active role of human resource management in the process.
Design/methodology/approach: This paper presents a theoretical framework of retirement, based on a procedural and multidimensional perspective.
Findings: To study how individuals adapt to retirement permits the discovery, for example, of how they obtain the quality of life after the transition and how they manage the internal and external aspects of the process. Human resource management must treat retirement as a complex and multidimensional phenomenon. This means it should consider retirement not only as a decision but also as a process.
Originality/value: This essay seeks to reflect on retirement, advocating the need to understand the issue from a procedural and multidimensional perspective, and especially, defending a more active role of human resource management in the process.
... Ainsi, cette enquête offre une base de données qui permet aux chercheurs d'accéder à des renseignements sur plusieurs facettes de la vie des personnes âgées de 15 ans et plus vivant au Canada. Toute définition analytique de la retraite est vouée à se limiter aux caractéristiques des données disponibles (Ekerdt et DeViney, 1990). Pour la présente étude, un retraité est défini comme quelqu'un ayant pris sa dernière retraite à l'âge de 50 ans ou plus, qui ne déclare pas le travail rémunéré comme activité principale et qui affirme avoir participé au marché du travail ou qui continue à le faire sans dépasser 9 semaines au cours des 12 derniers mois. ...
Résumé
La retraite au Canada a fait l’objet de plusieurs recherches, mais peu d’études ont comparé le passage de la vie active à la retraite des natifs et des immigrants ainsi que leurs caractéristiques une fois à la retraite, une lacune importante compte tenu de l’augmentation de la part des immigrants parmi les futures cohortes canadiennes de retraités. Cette étude descriptive vise à pallier cette lacune à l’aide des données de l’Enquête sociale générale de 2016. Les résultats montrent, entre autres, que les femmes et les hommes natifs ont plus de chances de prendre leur retraite que les immigrants, quel que soit le groupe d’âge étudié, et que l’âge moyen à la retraite des femmes et hommes immigrants est de deux ans supérieur à celui des natifs. Cette étude suggère que le statut d’immigrant implique une transition vers la retraite différente de celle vécue par les natifs ; différence qui devrait être considérée dans la structure du système de revenus de retraite.
... The first step involved selecting individuals who were at risk of transitioning to retirement during the observation period (from wave 1 to wave 7). While there are various definitions of a retirement transition (e.g., Ekerdt & Deviney, 1990), in this study, it is defined as complete cessation of work, based on respondents' self-classifications of their employment status (those individuals who did not transition into retirement during the observation period were treated as censored cases). To be included in the population of interest, respondents had to enter the survey as employed, inactive, or unemployed. ...
This paper investigates the association between accumulated experiences in the working and parenting spheres and retirement timing among Spanish women, utilizing data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The study examines whether labor market attachment or cumulative disadvantage characterizes women’s retirement and how these factors relate with the number of children. Firstly, multichannel sequence analysis and cluster analysis were employed to identify distinct work–family life courses from ages 20 to 50. Seven clusters were identified: “Full-time work with 2+ children,” “Out of the labour force and 2+ children,” “Mid-life discontinuity and 2+ children,” “Full-time work and 1 child,” “Full-time work and childless,” “Part-time work and 2+ children,” and “Part-time work or out of the labor force and 1 child.” Secondly, the study examines the association between these identified groups and retirement timing. The results indicate that Spanish women who have experienced more unstable careers characterized by extended periods of inactivity or part-time work, particularly in combination with having 2 or more children, are more likely to retire at a later age compared with women with continuous careers, with or without children. These findings underscore the ongoing challenges of balancing unpaid care work and wage work in Spain, while also revealing notable variations among women.
... Retirement status was hence assessed by self-definition (i. e., participants were considered as retired if they self-identified as retired; see DeViney, 1990, andEkerdt, 2009, for a discussion on different criteria used to define retirement). In line with the selfdefinition criterion, homemakers who referred to their identities as retirees were considered to be retired even though they were not previously engaged in paid work. ...
Retirement is a normative life transition that liberates the individual from the external obligations of employment , being a catalyzer of leisure activity engagement. However, the individual's motivations to engage in leisure activities in the time that is gained after retirement may depend on their future self-views (i.e., views of their own ageing) as well as on their levels of preparation for age-related changes. In this study, therefore, we aim to examine longitudinal changes in levels of engagement in leisure activities that occur around the age of retirement as being influenced by views on ageing and preparation for old age. The sample consisted of 451 persons aged 50-65 years at baseline who participated in the Ageing as Future study at two time points 5 years apart. Participants were split in three age-matched groups: recently retired (in between baseline and follow-up), already retired (at baseline), and individuals who were still working (at follow-up). Findings indicated that changes in levels of leisure differed between groups. Compared to both already retired and still working participants, recently retired participants increased their levels of engagement in leisure activities. Positive views on ageing in the leisure domain (at baseline) predicted subsequent increases in activity levels but group and levels of preparation qualified this effect. A combination of positive views on ageing and preparation for age-related changes is needed for one to make use of the time that is gained with retirement, highlighting their role as determinants of behavior in response to normative life events in later life.
... Options were as follows: (a) no; (b) yes, but working and consider myself a worker; (c) yes, and working, but consider myself a retiree; (d) yes, full-time retiree. The four options were included to account for the increasing complexity of retirement transitions and different definitions of retirement (Ekerdt & DeViney, 1990;Eyjólfsdóttir et al., 2021). For this study, however, we decided to reduce complexity by only considering those who reported either working or being retired full time. ...
Previous studies suggest a preretirement disengagement process from work, which includes reduced work motivation. In this study, we investigated changes in autonomous and controlled work motivation over two years among participants of the Health, Aging and Retirement Transition in Sweden (HEARTS) study. We found stability in both types of motivation; however, those who retired after the study period showed more distinct declines in autonomous motivation. A stronger sense of community at work was related to level, but not change in autonomous motivation. Intra-individual fluctuations in the expected retirement age did not predict work motivation or vice versa. Future studies are needed to better understand the antecedents and consequences of preretire-ment declines in autonomous work motivation.
... The general aging of the workforce is observable across most developed countries [13], a phenomenon partly driven by policy agendas across several western countries in the 1990's to address a perceived labor shortage caused by older workers retiring early [27][28][29]. As such, more workers are choosing to partially retire rather than exit the workforce, abandoning or delaying the concept of full retirement [30,31]. With more older workers partially retiring, a growing body of research has focused on better understanding how these workers can remain healthy and productive [2,32], a goal that may be facilitated by better targeting of health promotion programs. ...
The inadequate classification of retiree sub-groups ultimately results in misaligned policy. To generate sets of sub-groups that may be appropriately targeted for policy and interventions, variables are used that reflect the social structure of retirees, particularly the options of partial and complete retirement, marital status, gender, as well as the retirement status of the spouse, where relevant, and disability. Three sets of longitudinal Australian data were combined, each reflecting a four-year period (2003–2007, 2007–2011, 2011–2015) during which the individuals aged 45 to 69 retired (n = 1179). A multiway frequency analysis was performed to develop an inductive, combinatorial model of retirement from work. The resulting parsimonious taxonomy of sub-groups of the newly retired reflected main effects and interactions of key social-structural variables. Notably, a key driver of the pattern of results was that couples tend to coordinate their retirement behavior in both the decision to retire and form of retirement. Non-partnered retirees were more likely to be women. Disability was also a driver of retirement for non-partnered retirees, regardless of gender. Identifying sub-groups based on combinations of retiree characteristics can better inform policy design, appropriate health promotion interventions and potential specific triggers for enacting those policies. Overall, marital status, spousal retirement behavior and disability may each present a more useful basis for a taxonomy of retirement than more individually oriented age- and wealth-based systems.
... We included retired participants who (a) had retired within in the last 5 years (1991-1996, 1997-2002, 2003-2008, and 2009-2014, respectively) and (b) were between 60 and 65 years old when retiring. How to define retirement and retirement age is approached differently in the literature (Ekerdt & Deviney, 1990;Eyjólfsdóttir et al., 2021). In the present study, retirement was defined as taking out old-age pensions, which was assessed by self-report. ...
The context of retirement has changed over the last decades, but there is little knowledge on whether the quality of retirement adjustment has changed as well. Changes in retirement regulations and historical differences in resources may affect the quality of adjustment and increase inequalities between different socioeconomic groups. In the present study, we investigated historical differences in retirement adjustment by comparing cross-sectional samples of retirees from 1996, 2002, 2008, and 2014, based on the population-based German Ageing Survey. Adjustment was measured with three different indicators (perceived change in life after retirement, retirement satisfaction, adjustment difficulties). Retirement satisfaction was higher in later samples, but for the other two outcomes, there was no evidence for systematic increases or decreases in levels of retirement adjustment with historical time over the studied period. White-collar workers reported better adjustment than blue-collar workers did, and for two of three outcomes, this effect was stable over time. The white-collar workers’ advantage concerning retirement satisfaction, however, increased. We conclude that in Germany, at least for those who retire within the usual time window, adjustment quality has not changed systematically over the examined 18-year period. We only found mixed evidence for a growing social inequality in the retirement adjustment. However, as individual agency in choosing one’s retirement timing and pathway is increasingly restricted, social inequalities in well-being before retirement may increase.
Sammendrag Det er av stor interesse å kunne måle presist hvordan den typiske avgangsalderen utvikler seg på samfunnsnivå og hvordan den eventuelt varierer mellom grupper på individnivå. I denne artikkelen redegjør vi for ulike fremgangsmåter for å måle individers tidspunkt for avgang fra yrkeslivet. Eksemplene er hentet fra nyere internasjonal og norsk forskning. Videre sammenlikner vi resultater fra to operasjonaliseringer av avgangstidspunkt basert på henholdsvis surveydata og registeropplysninger. Vi finner at samsvaret er stort på aggregert nivå, mens det er langt svakere på individnivå med betydelige systematiske forskjeller i samsvaret mellom ulike kategorier av yrkesaktive. Nøkkelord yrkesavgang, pensjonering, eldre yrkesaktive, pensjonsreformen, aldring Abstract A precise measurement of the retirement age is of great value-both for assessing developments over time at the macro level, and for understanding how it varies at the micro level. In this article, we review different methods for measuring the timing of retirement found in recent international and national research. We then compare the results of two operationalizations, one based on survey data, the other on register data. The correspondence between the two is substantial, but only at the aggregate level. At the individual level, the match is considerably weaker, and we find systematic and significant contrasts across different categories of workers.
The study focuses on the ethico-religious assessment of the pastors who worked for the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC) and having retirement dilemma. All Baptist associations in the Ethiope-Delta Baptist Conference are included in the sampled study population. The Ethiope-Delta Baptist Conference serves Okpe, Sapele, Ughelli North, Warri North, Ethiope-East, and Ethiope-West local government areas in Delta State. In these six local government units, which are dispersed over numerous towns and cities in the aforementioned territories, there are over 226 Baptist churches and 11 Baptist Associations. The study included both qualitative and quantitative methods of inquiry. Expository, evaluative, phenomenological, and critical-analytical techniques are also used in this study. The above methods used in this study make it possible to fully evaluate the relevance, significance, and application of ethico-religious arguments about Baptist pastors' pre-retirement and their situations in the study area. To substantiate these claims, both primary and secondary sources are also employed. The data for the study were gathered using the phenomenological approach, participant observation, and questionnaires. The research as well as the discussion in this research fall under two main topics: Baptist pastors' pre-retirement challenges and ethical-religious responses to retired pastors' dilemmas. According to the study, pastors' pre-retirement issues are most prevalent in rural Baptist churches. The study also found that, despite the NBC's goal of ensuring quick payment of pastors' retirement benefit premiums, churches do not fully cooperate in terms of making their corresponding percentage contributions.
For anyone with an interest in pensionsâworkers and employers, personnel directors, accountants, actuaries, lawyers, insurance agents, financial analysts, government officials, and social scientistsâthis book is required reading. Now, without the aid of a pension specialist, anyone can determine how their particular pension plan stacks up against the average. Using virtually all available government sources (including computerized data unavailable in print) and their own extensive surveys, the authors present a comprehensive description of the structural features and financial conditions of U.S. private, state, city, and municipal pension plans. The introductions to the hundreds of tables explain and highlight the information. The picture that emerges of the "typical" plan and its significant variations is crucial to all those with a financial stake in pensions. The reader can compare pension vesting, retirement, and benefit provisions by plan type, plan size, industry, union status, and many more characteristics. With this information, workers can evaluate just how generous their employer is; job applicants can compare fringe benefits of prospective employers; personnel directors can judge their competitive edge. The financial community will find especially interesting the analysis of the unfunded liabilities of private, state, and local pension funds. The investment decisions of private and public pension funds and their return performances are described as well. Government officials and social scientists will find the analysis of pension coverage, the receipt of pension income by the elderly, cost-of-living adjustments, and disability insurance of special importance in evaluating the proper degree of public intervention in the area of old age income support. Pensions in the American Economy is comprehensive and easy to use. Every reader, from small-business owners and civil servants to pension fund specialists, will find in it essential information about this increasingly important part of labor compensation and retirement finances.
Two hundred twelve primarily middle-class women were classified as “still working,” “retired,” or “housewives most of their
lives” according to self-report. Results of analysis show that women who have worked much of their lives are not at a disadvantage
relative to those who have not in terms of number of social resources at their disposal. Although retirement reduces perceived
level of social contact, specific types of informal interaction are increased. Differences in affect balance between retirees
and workers are attributable to the lower income, subjective health states, and reported level of social contact of retirees.
It is hypothesized that the lower affect balance of retirees relative to housewives is due, in addition to income differences,
to the greater dependence of retirees on extrafamilial social contact for maintenance of psychological well-being
The trend toward earlier retirement of men began in the twentieth century and has continued during the 1980s. In contrast, no such trend has emerged for women. The determinants of retirement are examined in this article along with expected changes in these factors. These data are then used to assess the prospects for reversing the trend toward early retirement among men as well as examining future retirement decisions of women.
Partial retirement is a quantitatively important retirement state that shows significant structural differences from behavioral functions of either full retirement or full-time work. Alternative models of the choice of retirement state are estimated on a sample of white married males from the Retirement History Survey, 1967-1973. Findings suggest that, while partial retirement appears to take several different forms, the critical choice for a large number of older workers appears to be that of labor force participation first, with either partial or full-time employment determined conditionally among participants. The model has good explanatory power and conforms to expectations of the effects of various relevant variables on labor supply decisions.
The labor supply response to critical aspects of the Social Security program depends on whether behavior is "myopic" (conditioned by current benefits only) or "far-sighted" (conditioned by the entire future benefit stream). This behavior reflects ...
Eleven knowledgeable researchers and administrators in the field of retirement explore basic issues in retirement research. Consideration is first given to definitions of retirement and types of retirement. Then attention is turned toward identifying pertinent research variables and research questions concerning: factors in the decision to retire and the timing of retirement; individual and household adjustment to changes in financial situation as a result of retirement; the effects of retirement on couples; the determinants of retirement migration; the determinants of employer retirement policies; the effects of retirement on work organizations; and the effects of retirement on communities and on society at large. Priorities are assigned to the research questions identified.
An individual's identification of his retirement situation does not necessarily coincide with the retirement concept as defined by objective measures. Self-evaluation of retirement status by respondents to the Retirement History Study has been analyzed to discover to what extent their subjective assessment of retirement matched the situation predicted by objective measures. For those completely retired or not retired, the self-evaluation was closely related to the number of hours worked. A "partly retired" response was not as well-predicted, to some extent because of definitional problems. Pension receipt and, to a lesser degree, aging had some significance as predictors, but other demographic and attitudinal factors were not significant. Analysis of the partly retired suggests the relative importance of gradual retirement during the period 1969--75.
Four factors were found in a national sample of older black Americans that contributed significantly to their unretired-retired
status: an indistinct line between lifetime and old age work patterns, a realization that occasional work is necessary well
into old age, income from other than private pensions, and the greater benefits that accrue from identifying as disabled rather
than retired.
The effects of work history, work attitudes, economic resources, and health on the retirement of women, particularly Black women, are poorly understood. This report examines racial differences in these factors and in their effects on the decision to retire, using data gathered from 258 Black and white women aged 62 through 66. Results showed that Black women were considerably more likely than whites to have worked steadily most of their adult lives, although Black and white women expressed quite similar attitudes toward work. Reflecting their work histories, Black women were more likely than whites to be eligible for pensions but were less likely to have retired. In multivariate analysis poor health was a predictor of retirement for both Black and white women, while low average income over the last five years of employment was a predictor only for Blacks. Work history and attitude were unrelated to retirement.