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What Is Retirement? A Review and Assessment of Alternative Concepts and Measures*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2009

Frank T. Denton  and
Byron G. Spencer
Frank T. Denton*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON
Byron G. Spencer
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON
*
†Request for offprints should be sent to: Frank T. Denton Department of Economics, KTH-426 Hamilton, ONL 8S 4M4 Telephone: 905-525-9140 extension 24595 (E-mail: dentonf@mcmaster.ca)
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Abstract

Because the concept of retirement is prominent in both popular thinking and academic studies, it would be helpful if the notion were analytically sound, could be measured with precision, and would make possible comparisons of patterns of retirement over time and among different populations. This paper reviews and assesses the many concepts and measures that have been proposed, summarizing them in groupings that reflect non-participation or reduced participation in the labour force, receipt of pension income, end-of-career employment, self-assessed retirement, or combinations of those characteristics. It concludes that there is no agreed measure and that no one measure dominates. Instead, new proposed measures continue to take account of additional refinements as new data sets become available, thereby further restricting possible comparisons. The confusing array of definitions reflects the practical problem that underlies the concept of retirement: It is an essentially negative notion, a notion of what people are not doing – namely, that they are not working. A more positive approach would be to focus, instead, on what people are doing, including especially their involvement in non-market activities that are socially productive, even if those activities do not contribute to national income as conventionally measured.

Résumé

Puisque que la notion de retraite est à la mode dans la pensée populaire et dans les études théoriques, il serait utile de définir un concept analytiquement pertinent que l’on pourrait mesurer avec précision afin de comparer les modèles de retraite au fil du temps et selon les différents groupes de population. Le présent essai passe en revue et évalue les divers concepts et mesures qui ont été proposés, les regroupant dans les catégories suivantes : absence de participation ou participation réduite à la population active, prestataire de pension de retraite, emploi de fin de carrière, autoévaluation du statut de retraite et combinaison de ces caractéristiques. La conclusion est qu’il n’existe aucun consensus pour aucune de ces mesures. Au contraire, de nouvelles mesures continuent d’être proposées afin que l’on tienne compte des nouvelles améliorations apportées aux séries de données récemment parues, ce qui limite davantage les comparaisons possibles. Ce large éventail de définitions reflète les problèmes pratiques derrière la notion de retraite : c’est essentiellement un concept négatif, une notion qui réfère à ce que les gens ne font pas, c’est-à-dire au fait qu’ils ne travaillent pas. Une approche plus positive viserait à se concentrer plutôt sur ce que les gens font, en particulier sur les activités non rémunérées qui sont socialement productives, même si ces dernières ne contribuent pas au revenu national tel qu’il est conventionnellement mesuré.

Keywords

modèles de retraitemesures de retraiteagingconcepts of retirementmeasures of retirement
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 28 , Issue 1 , March 2009 , pp. 63 - 76
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2009

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Footnotes

*

This report was carried out as part of the SEDAP (Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population) Research Program. SEDAP is supported by a Major Collaborative Research Initiatives grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We are grateful for that support and for the additional support received from HRSDC (Human Resources and Social Development Canada) for work on this paper. However, the views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of HRSDC or the federal government. The authors thank Ryan Mak for his outstanding assistance in identifying and reviewing the relevant literature.

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