Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T09:04:09.670Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Early Retirement Decisions and How They Affect Later Quality of Life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

A.J. Maule ,
D. R. Cliff  and
R. Taylor
A.J. Maule
Affiliation:
School of Business and Economic Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds LS29JT.
D. R. Cliff
Affiliation:
School of Human and Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield HD13DH.
R. Taylor
Affiliation:
Riva Consultants, Brighouse HD6 1AP.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Older workers are often placed in an unenviable position in the face of stereotypes which define them as increasingly marginal in the work force, and view retirement in terms of status loss and disengagement. Yet voluntary early retirement schemes have been a recent feature of work organisations of all types in Britain, Western Europe and North America. The nature of the decision-making processes of those involved in such schemes has not been widely researched and such studies as have been conducted have not drawn on the existing framework of decision analysis. This paper reports the findings of two linked studies into the early retirement decisions of men working in Britain for a large multinational company in the manufacturing sector. The first investigated the factors deemed to be important for a group of men at the point of decision whilst the second investigated both the factors deemed to be important and the quality of life of a group of men who had taken the decision to retire early between 18 months and 3 years previously. Both studies indicated that the decision-making process is complex and cannot be reduced to single-factors like health or financial status. The most important factor in the quality of life of early retirees was the matching of expectations of further work at the point of decision. The studies illustrated the utility of a decision analysis approach to the study of early retirement.

Keywords

Early retirementdecision makingquality of life
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , March 1996 , pp. 177 - 204
Copyright
Copyright Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baron, J. 1994. Thinking and Deciding, 2nd Edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Beach, L. R. 1990. Image Theory. Wiley, Chichester.Google Scholar
Blyton, P. 1983. Early retirement: An EEC perspective. The Three Banks Review, 136, 32–44.Google Scholar
Child, D. 1990. The Essentials of Factor Analysis. 2nd Edition, Cassell, London.Google Scholar
Cliff, D. R. 1991. Negotiating a flexible retirement: further paid work and the quality of life in early retirement. Ageing and Society, 11, 319–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebbesen, E. B. and Konecni, V.J. 1982. Criminal Behaviour and the Criminal Justice System: A decision processes approach. Freeman, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Fischhoff, B. 1975. Hindsight = Foresight: The effect of outcome knowledge on judgements under uncertainty. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1, 288–299.Google Scholar
Glamser, F. 1981. The impact of pre-retirement preparation programs for industrial workers. Journal of Gerontology, 36, 244–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howell, D. C. 1982. Statistical methods for psychology. PWS Publishing, Boston.Google Scholar
Hwalek, M., Firestone, I. and Hoffman, W. 1982. The role social pressure plays in early retirement propensities. Ageing and Work, 5, 157–168.Google Scholar
Kelly, J. R. and Westcott, G. 1991. Ordinary retirement: commonalties and continuity. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 32, 81–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kestenbaum, B. 1985. The measurement of early retirement. Journal of the American Statistical Society, 80, 38–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kingson, E. R. 1983. Still more on early retirement. Ageing and Work, 6, 111–115.Google Scholar
Kohli, M. 1988. Ageing as a challenge for sociological theory. Ageing and Society, 8, 367–394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laczko, F. and Phillipson, C. 1991. Changing Work and Retirement. Open University Press, Milton Keynes.Google Scholar
Laczko, F. and Walker, A. 1985. Excluding older workers from the labour market: early retirement in Britain, France and Sweden. In Jones, C. and Brenton, M. (eds) The Year Book of Social Policy in Britain. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Makeham, P. & Morgan, S. 1980. Evaluation of the Job Release Scheme. Research Paper No 14. Dept of Employment, London.Google Scholar
McGoldrick, A. and Cooper, C. 1989. Early Retirement. Gower, Aldershot.Google Scholar
Myers, R.J. 1982. Health and the early retirement decision debate. Ageing and Work, 5, 39–55.Google Scholar
Myers, R.J. 1983. More about the controversy on early retirement. Ageing and Work, 5, 83–91.Google Scholar
Olson-Frick, H. 1980. Early retirement in international perspective. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 3, 215–223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olson-Frick, H. 1985. Early retirement in international perspective 2. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 8, 161–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, S. 1982. Work and Retirement. George Allen & Unwin, London.Google Scholar
Payne, J. W., Bettman, J. R. and Johnson, E.J. 1993. The Adaptive Decision Maker. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollman, A. W. 1974. The place of work in the lifestyle of industrial early retirees. Clinical Medicine, 81, 30–33.Google Scholar
Stokes, G. 1992. One Being Old: The Psychology of Later Life. Falmer Press, London.Google Scholar
Szinovacz, M., Ekerdt, D.J. and Vinick, B. H. 1992. Families and Retirement. Sage, Newbury Park.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turner, B. S. 1989. Ageing, status politics and sociological theory. The British Journal of Sociology, 40, 588–606.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walker, A. 1985. Early retirement—Release of refuge from the labour market. Quarterly Journal of Social Affairs, 1, 211–229.Google Scholar
Wood, S. 1980. Managerial reactions to job redundancy through early retirement. Sociological Review, 28, 783–807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organisation Study Group, 1993. Ageing and Work Capacity. WHO Technical Report Series no. 835. World Health Organisation, Geneva.Google Scholar
Yates, F. 1990. Judgement and Decision Making. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs.Google Scholar