On how the nature of early retirement is related to post-retirement life conditions from a citizenship perspective

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyse how the nature of retirement is related to post-retirement life conditions among early retirees. As to the nature of retirement, we make use of the concepts of push, pull and jump to describe why individuals retire early. Push is analysed as an outcome of poor health and firings, pull as a mechanical (reflective) response to economic and symbolic signals of the welfare state, while jump is described as a reflexive process; jumpers strive for new experiences (a new life project) and/or social gains (to be more together with grandchildren). Post-retirement life conditions are analysed in a four-dimensional citizenship perspective: (a) economic, (b) social and (c) political citizenship, as well as the feeling of having (d) ‘equal social worth’ vis-à-vis fellow citizens. Results show that role transitions are strongly affected by the nature of retirement. Jumpers largely seem to be shielded from low levels of citizenship in old age. Those pushed out of the labour market indeed run a rather high risk of lacking citizenship, epitomised as loss of economic and social citizenship as well as a low sense of having equal social worth vis-á-vis fellow citizens. No conclusive results were found for older workers subject to pull. Pullers made up a rather small proportion of total sample.

Individual agency and structure perceptions in intentions to withdrawal from work early/late in the mid-and late-career

“…, 2018; Van Solinge and Henkens, 2007), expectations for the fulfillment of personal needs for identity, growth and relatedness outside working life (Brougham and Walsh, 2009), having more leisure time and for social relations (Nicolaisen et al. , 2013) and motivation to look for new experiences or start a new life project (Jensen et al. , 2020).…”

“…In general, they refer to voluntary withdrawal from the workplace due to the attraction of pursuing or satisfying personal interests in retirement McGoldrick and Cooper, 1994). The most relevant factors influencing mid-and late-career workers to be attracted to early retirement (individually or in combination) are social embeddedness and possibilities to spend time with their relatives (Topa et al, 2018;Van Solinge and Henkens, 2007), expectations for the fulfillment of personal needs for identity, growth and relatedness outside working life (Brougham and Walsh, 2009), having more leisure time and for social relations (Nicolaisen et al, 2013) and motivation to look for new experiences or start a new life project (Jensen et al, 2020). Accordingly, the voluntary factors that make retirement attractive are related to values and work centrality, especially relative centrality.…”

On how different combinations of conditions produce different early exit/retirement outcomes: a qualitative (case-oriented) comparison of Denmark and Sweden

“…To meet this criticism, the pull concept has been expanded to include sociological thinking about the role of norms in relation to retirement, and the ‘jump’ concept has been constructed to account for gender and family characteristics as well as human agency ( e.g. Jensen, 2005; Jensen et al ., 2020); hence, an updated content of the push, pull and jump concepts is the following.…”

The working class and early retirement in Denmark: individual push factors

“…Even though financial considerations and preferences for family life or leisure are also unequally distributed across social classes, they are expected to be relatively more homogenous across the population compared to push factors (Radl, 2014). Push factors are also important in a social stratification perspective because people who feel pushed out of the labour market are more likely to experience economic hardship and social exclusion than people who choose themselves to retire early (Jensen et al, 2018).…”