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Retirement and Social Policy

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Encyclopedia of Geropsychology

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Synonyms

Pensions; Social security; Superannuation; Withdrawal from work

Definition

Retirement, understood in terms of a period of pensioned rest or leisure at the end of working life, is a relatively recent development. It only became a widespread stage in life following the expansion of social security and pensions in the mid-twentieth century. The status of retirement has become more ambiguous in more recent decades as concerns about population aging and longevity have prompted policy debate about the social organization of work and retirement in later life.

Introduction

With population aging and increased longevity, the social organization of work and retirement is now the site of continuing political negotiation and transformation. Historically, the passage from work to retirement has played an important role in shaping the experience of aging, serving as the boundary point for entry into old age. For much of the twentieth century, the conventional definition of old age as...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Simon Biggs & Michael Thomas McGann

Authors
  1. Simon Biggs
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  2. Michael Thomas McGann
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simon Biggs .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Nancy A. Pachana

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© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

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Biggs, S., McGann, M.T. (2015). Retirement and Social Policy. In: Pachana, N. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geropsychology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_193-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_193-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-287-080-3

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