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Older Workers and Retirement: Critical Perspectives on the Research Literature and Policy Implications

Understanding issues concerned with older workers and retirement is rapidly becoming a central concern within and beyond the discipline of gerontology. Explaining the factors behind the creation of retirement has generated debate and controversy among economic historians, cultural historians, sociologists and social policy analysts. The range of contributions reflects the way in which issues relating to retirement and an ageing workforce are at the intersection of key social changes over the past 50 years. These include the rise of social security and the welfare state, moves to restructure pension provision, and the increased importance attached to leisure and consumption in a period of late or high modernity. The purpose of this essay is to review the various strands in the research literature as a guide to debates on, first, the position of older workers, and, second, perspectives on retirement as a social institution. The essay is divided into three main sections: first, theoretical perspectives on older workers; second, research themes and literature; third, future directions for research and policy.