where did the idea of retirement come from
Retirement Retirement, or the practice of leaving one's job or ceasing to work after reaching a certain age, has been around since around the 18th century. Prior to the 18th century, the average life expectancy of people was between 26 and 40 years.[6][7][8][9][10][11] Due to this, only a small percentage of the population were reaching an age where physical impairments began to be obstacles to working. Retirement as a government policy began to be adopted by countries during the late 19th century and the 20th century, beginning in Germany under Otto Von Bismarck.[12]