La retraite au Canada a fait l’objet de plusieurs recherches, mais peu d’études ont comparé le passage de la vie active à la retraite des natifs et des immigrants ainsi que leurs caractéristiques une fois à la retraite, une lacune importante compte tenu de l’augmentation de la part des immigrants parmi les futures cohortes canadiennes de retraités. Cette étude descriptive vise à pallier cette lacune à l’aide des données de l’Enquête sociale générale de 2016. Les résultats montrent, entre autres, que les femmes et les hommes natifs ont plus de chances de prendre leur retraite que les immigrants, quel que soit le groupe d’âge étudié, et que l’âge moyen à la retraite des femmes et hommes immigrants est de deux ans supérieur à celui des natifs. Cette étude suggère que le statut d’immigrant implique une transition vers la retraite différente de celle vécue par les natifs ; différence qui devrait être considérée dans la structure du système de revenus de retraite.

In this qualitative study, I followed an approach to examine perceptions about retirement, using an interview guide informed by the life course perspective, among 26 men and women who had retired from positions as chief executive officers. Three key themes emerged: (1) the importance of productivity and networking as participants rose up the corporate ladder; (2) the sense of having a “best before” date and experiencing societal pressures to retire; and (3) struggles with feeling insignificant in retirement while desiring personal fulfillment through continued engagement in paid work. These findings shed light on the value of using a life course perspective to examine retirement as both a personal experience and as a social phenomenon. Findings also contribute to theoretical understandings of productive aging by illustrating how preconceptions about productivity contrast with ideations of a leisure-filled retirement in ways that can foreshorten the employment contributions of some individuals.

Canadian baby boomers began turning 65 – traditional retirement age – in 2011. How this generation perceives and experiences retirement may differ from preceding generations. In this online, grounded-theory study, 25 baby boomers who were approaching retirement or had recently retired participated in a multi-author blog about their retirement experiences and processes. We collected additional data via subsequent focus groups and participant interviews. Participants retired in several ways, including ceasing work, adopting casual or part-time work, and adopting new types of work. Findings highlighted three phases of the retirement transition: pre-retirement, characterized by both apprehension about retirement and idealization of the perfect retirement; the initial transition, which participants compared to an extended vacation, but in which they also struggled to adjust to increased amounts of free time; and mid-transition, when participants learned to balance structure and flexibility. Findings suggest that despite retirement transition challenges, many people have positive experiences with this transition.

Aspects of existentialism relevant to existence and death anxiety (DA) are discussed. Included are the “thrownness” of existence, being-with-others, the motivational influence of inevitable death, the search for meaning, making the most of existence by taking responsibility for one’s own life, and coping with existential isolation. The attempted separation of DA from object anxiety is a significant difficulty. The correlations among age, gender, and DA are variable. Personality and role-oriented problems in the transition to retirement are discussed along with Erikson’s notion of “generativity” as an expression of the energy and purpose of mid-life. Furthermore, methodological and linguistic problems in DA research are considered. The article suggests qualitative methodologies as an interpersonal means of exploring DA within the contexts of psychotherapy and counselling.

The aim of this study was to explore policies and procedures to support employees who retire from the emergency services. Interviews were conducted with participants who were familiar with existing policies and procedures in a large ambulance (n = 8) and fire (n = 6) service in Ireland. Four key themes were identified: (1) “I don’t think it’s a job at 65 to be running out on an emergency ambulance”; (2) “They do genuinely feel a wee bit isolated”; (3) improving the “cultural shock”; and (4) “I just keep going and hope for the best”. Findings point towards retirement as a major life change and highlight a need for more structured, effective pre-retirement preparation. Factors unique to emergency service personnel include the physical and emotional stress involved in emergency service; a strong identification with the service; and a lack of clarity about rules and entitlements, requiring better information and preparation.

Canada and other countries are changing the age for public pension eligibility. A policy concern is the welfare of those individuals exiting the labour force before the age of pension eligibility. This study, through the use of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics data, addressed early retirements by (a) examining the incomes of those who are not working at near-retirement ages, and (b) examining how these Canadians avoid economic hardship. It found that around three-quarters of those not working have been able to avoid low-income status. Most important for avoiding low income are other family income sources, good health, and employment-related pension income.

Applying an employment-income-based procedure for determining retirement, we analysed a large longitudinal data file of Canadian personal income tax returns for individuals to determine who has retired and to assess how successful they are in maintaining their incomes after retirement. The methodological approach may be of interest for possible application in other countries that have suitable data. Our main conclusions are as follows. First, in the two years immediately after retirement, the after-tax income replacement ratios average about two thirds when calculated across all ages of retirement. Second, the ratios tend to increase with the age of retirement. Third, the ratios increase with years in retirement, at least in the first few years. Finally, income replacement ratios are highest in the lowest income quartile and generally decline as income increases; within each quartile, the replacement ratios are higher for those who retired later than for those who retired earlier.

In this article, we raise the question as to whether retirement is lost as we currently know and understand it in Canada. With a selected review, we examine retirement research according to the scope of retirement and the new retirement, possible theoretical developments, the timing of transitions into retirement, and life as a retiree including the quality or lack of pensions. Accordingly, we propose that retirement is undergoing modifications on the basis of several trends that commenced before the 2008 economic downturn. The data would appear to lean towards the emergence of a different type of retirement, insofar as the collective Canadian vision of retirement is lost, notwithstanding the economic meltdown in global markets.

This article examines, on the basis of longitudinal data from the Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, the effects of health and employer-provided pensions on retirement decisions, which have not been studied simultaneously in the Canadian context. The results indicate that employer-provided pensions have substantial and significant incentive effects on retirement behaviour. Having poor health substantially increases the likelihood of entering retirement, by up to 25 percentage points. The results corroborate previous evidence regarding the relative importance of attenuation and justification bias in self-reported health measures. Further, the results confirm U.S. and European evidence that employer-provided pensions and health are significant determinants of retirement.

If one desires many meaningful and enriching years of retirement, one must plan and make the necessary transformations to one's psychological life structure. This means that a major revision of the dynamic organization of the dimensions of one's being and behaviour must be undertaken. A high level of consciousness of what one wants to become is essential. This involves first a strong will to change; then making the necessary ajustments to one's individual life structure.

The move towards early retirement as witnessed over the last few years in Europe comes from social assistance mechanisms, other than old age security and is not due to a simple earlier retirement age.

Two systems have been used primarily to help older workers. These are disability and employment insurance. “Early retirement” mechanisms have also helped these active or unemployed workers retire, by means of allocating resources.

The social security structure in European countries has remained essentially unchanged with the risks and logistics of management inextricably intertwined. Moreover, these new forms of transition between activity and retirement reveal the reorganization underway in all matters related to aging workers. One of the implications of the massive movement towards early retirement has been that the tripartite life course in which important social stages within the life course are marked by milestones (e.g. school age, retirement age …) is disappearing. It is gradually being replaced with new flexibility for managing the end of the life course. This type of evolution would require us to rethink the social protection system in the sense of reducing the distinct ternary division in the life course. In this perspective, the very concepts of retirement and social transfers for definitive inactivity are no longer relevant.

Gerontologists have regarded retirement as a negative event and seldom have investigated the successful retiree or older worker. This study provided descriptive data about both of these groups by triangulating quantitative and qualitative methods. Twenty-one retired and 30 employed professionals over the age of 60 were assessed for general levels of well-being and life satisfaction. They were then interviewed about the meaning and significance of their careers, and the strategies used to cope with job-related problems. Results showed both groups to be involved in meaningful social relationships, and well-adjusted and satisfied with their current lives. Differences between the groups emerged from the interviews: Employed professionals valued the prestige and challenge of a career; retirees mentioned supportive interpersonal relationships and the need to complete a job. Workers also mentioned delegating authority and establishing networks as valuable coping strategies. Some disciplinary differences were also noted within each group. These results underscore the usefulness of blending qualitative and quantitative data in research on work and retirement.

This research, taking into account sex and previous occupational level, examines the influence of retirement on three dependent variables: loneliness, depression, and life satisfaction. One hundred and six men and women, aged 65 and receiving governmental pensions (Régie des rentes du Québec) completed on two occasions (with a one year interval) the Échelle de solitude de l'Université Laval, the Questionnaire de dépression de Beck and the Échelle de satisfaction de vie. The resulte indicate that there is no significant difference between Time 1 and Time 2 of evaluation on the three questionnaires (temporal view). However, from a cross-sectional perspective, newly retired men and professionals may be more lonely, less satisfied with their life and more depressed. The results are discussed in the light of Atchley's (1976b) model.

The move towards early retirement as witnessed over the last few years in Europe comes from social assistance mechanisms, other than old age security and is not due to a simple earlier retirement age.

Two systems have been used primarily to help older workers. These are disability and employment insurance. “Early retirement” mechanisms have also helped these active or unemployed workers retire, by means of allocating resources.

The social security structure in European countries has remained essentially unchanged with the risks and logistics of management inextricably intertwined. Moreover, these new forms of transition between activity and retirement reveal the reorganization underway in all matters related to the aging workers. One of the implications of the massive movement towards early retirement has been that the tripartite life course in which important social stages within the life course are marked by milestones (e.g., school age, retirement age …) is disappearing. It is gradually being replaced with new flexibility for managing the end of the life course. This type of evolution requires us to rethink the social assistance system in the sense of reducing the distinct ternary division in the life course. From this perspective, the very concepts of retirement and social transfers for definitive inactivity are no longer relevant.

This paper presents a selective review of sociological gerontology in Canada, examining where it has been, where it is, and where it could go in the future in four general areas: inequality, population aging and the social construction of crisis; family relations and caregiving; work, retirement and income security; and health, health care systems, and health policy. This review suggests that the sociology of aging has not differentiated itself by the topic studied or by its applied and empirical focus, but rather in its unique perspective that reveals the importance of social structures for the personal and private experience of aging. In doing so, sociological gerontology rejects deterministic assumptions ofinevitability. The importance of relating the personal to the public and of continuing a critical examination of existing trends will continue into the future. An additional challenge will be the generation ofnew knowledge on how to transform institutions so that they better enhance the quality oflife ofseniors, including the identification of support of family structures and community environments, as well as more appropriate health and income security policies. This also includes research on effective and appropriate means of introducing new structures and implementing new policies and programs within the context of current social institutions.

This research pertained to personal goals during retirement and especially to the influence of tenacity and flexibility on measures of psychological well-being. The participants (N = 147) had been retired for less than three years and were aged between 49 and 75 years (M = 58 years). The participants had to identify four personal goals and rate each of them along 15 dimensions. Psychological well-being was evaluated with scales of depression, self-esteem and life satisfaction. Regression analyses showed that flexibility in the presence of obstacles to the realization of goals accounts for 44 per cent of the variance in depression, 29 per cent of life satisfaction and 25 per cent of self-esteem. Tenacity had a more modest impact. Flexibility seems to be the strategy which is most useful in facing difficulties in the pursuit of goals during retirement.

The purpose of this research was to study the influence of spousal support in the pursuit of retirement goals on retirement satisfaction and marital satisfaction. The 100 retirees had to evaluate the support they received from their spouse for the realization of their personal projects. Regression analyses demonstrated that availability of spousal support, capacity to realize one's projects and spousal support to these projects accounted for 36% of the variance of retirement satisfaction and for 71% of the variance of marital satisfaction. Spousal support in the realization of retirement projects is an important element to consider in the evaluation of retirement and marital satisfaction.

The present study focused on variables influencing psychological well-being during the period of adjustment to retirement (6 to 36 months). The sample included 141 respondents – 69 retired men and 72 retired women – who completed questionnaires evaluating life satisfaction, retirement satisfaction, and psychological well-being. Variables traditionally examined (socio-demographic, health, attitude, and social) explained 45 to 57 per cent of the variance related to life and retirement satisfaction, but explained a smaller percentage (9 to 37%) of the variance related to the six dimensions of psychological well-being. This study, therefore, confirmed the impact of traditional variables on life and retirement satisfaction but brought out the importance of investigating other variables that could explain psychological well-being during retirement.

This article presents the results of a study into stereotyping by managers of their older workers and the influence of these stereotypes on the inclination of managers to keep their older workers in employment. The data for the study were gathered among 796 managers. Through principal components analysis, 15 opinions about older workers were reduced to three dimensions of stereotypes. The first dimension deals with the productivity of older staff; the other two dimensions have to do with their reliability and their adaptability. These stereotypical ideas about older workers influence managers' attitudes toward the retirement of their employees. The analyses show that, besides organizational factors, psychological mechanisms also explain why people view older workers through stereotypes. Managers who are older and in more frequent contact with older employees tend to hold more positive views.