TY - JOUR
T1 - No more lock-step retirement
T2 - Boomers' shifting meanings of work and retirement
AU - Kojola, Erik
AU - Moen, Phyllis
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2016/1/1
Y1 - 2016/1/1
N2 - Standard pathways for work and retirement are being transformed as the large Boomer cohort moves through typical retirement ages during a moment of economic, social and political change. People are delaying retirement and moving into and out of paid work as the standard lock-step retirement becomes less dominant. However, little research has explored how and why Boomers are taking on these diverse pathways in their later careers. Accordingly, we conduct in-depth interviews with working and retired white-collar Boomers, exploring how they are working and the meanings and motivations for their decisions and plans in their later careers. We find that there is no single dominant pattern for retirement, but rather a diverse mix of pathways shaped by occupational identities, finances, health and perceptions of retirement. Boomers express a desire to have control over their time and to find meaning and purpose in either paid or unpaid activities. However, life course transitions, normative cultural scripts, and gender and class locations as well as workplace and social policies constrain their decisions and plans.
AB - Standard pathways for work and retirement are being transformed as the large Boomer cohort moves through typical retirement ages during a moment of economic, social and political change. People are delaying retirement and moving into and out of paid work as the standard lock-step retirement becomes less dominant. However, little research has explored how and why Boomers are taking on these diverse pathways in their later careers. Accordingly, we conduct in-depth interviews with working and retired white-collar Boomers, exploring how they are working and the meanings and motivations for their decisions and plans in their later careers. We find that there is no single dominant pattern for retirement, but rather a diverse mix of pathways shaped by occupational identities, finances, health and perceptions of retirement. Boomers express a desire to have control over their time and to find meaning and purpose in either paid or unpaid activities. However, life course transitions, normative cultural scripts, and gender and class locations as well as workplace and social policies constrain their decisions and plans.
KW - Aging
KW - Boomers
KW - Career transitions
KW - Encore careers
KW - Retirement
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84955279536&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84955279536&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jaging.2015.12.003
DO - 10.1016/j.jaging.2015.12.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 26880605
AN - SCOPUS:84955279536
SN - 0890-4065
VL - 36
SP - 59
EP - 70
JO - Journal of Aging Studies
JF - Journal of Aging Studies
ER -