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Productive Aging and the Future of Retirement
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13863 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
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12 / 1988 |
3,014 Words |
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Malcolm H. Morrison
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What will be the productive economic potential of older persons in the future aging society? Can the aging hope to make meaningful and significant contributions to both economic and social productivity as we approach and enter the twenty-first century? What are the forces that will affect this potential and what are the key choices that society must make to achieve a productive aging society?
These concerns, along with growing interest in employment alternatives by some older persons, are leading some to challenge the traditional meaning of "retirement" as a complete cessation from work and to suggest that retirement may become an inappropriate description of future societal patterns; that is, in the future the meaning of retirement will change or a different social definition of aging will be needed.
After many years of effort and many social policy decisions, we have clearly developed an extremely beneficial set of choices for older persons which allow most to limit or entirely refrain from work if they choose to do so. As it turns out, some of our policies may have caused the pendulum to swing too far away from productivity in favor of leisure life-styles for the aging. However, a reversal of the pendulum in the opposite direction is not necessarily desirable either, and clearly would not be a popular policy for most older people today.
Thus, in considering the future productive roles of older people, it is important to clarify views of work and retirement based on both today's actual circumstances, which of course are influenced by past policies, and tomorrow's possible trends which can be influenced by future policies.
A frequent misconception is to consider the decisions that older people make regarding retirement as "point-in-time" choices that are made based on immediate circumstances near the time of retirement. In reality, retirement decisions are influenced by life-cycle circumstances of people, including concerns about health, economic status, personal priorities, and public and private sector policies that have, over time, conditioned their understanding of the choices actually available for them. If these factors change, then the timing and content of retirement and employment decisions may change as well. In general, the overall economy and the incentives of public and private pension plans will continue to significantly influence the choices of older people both today and in the future.
Thus, to understand what may occur in the years ahead that might encourage economic productivity by older persons, it is necessary to consider how the current pattern of retirement developed, the factors that influence and determine today's early retirement patterns, and whether any flexibility in retirement could be introduced in the future that would encourage and enable more older persons to be productive?
The Changing Meanings of 'Retirement'
In today's society, "retirement" clearly has multiple meanings and it is no longer a safe assumption that someone who either says he is retired or is classified as retired, does not work. Yet, since less than 3 percent of the entire work force of the United States are aged 65 and above and those 55-64 represent only 11 percent of American workers, there is a clear connection between retirement
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