‘Since I retired, I can take things as they come. For example, the laundry’: gender, class and freedom in retirement in Switzerland

Abstract

Population ageing has led many countries to be concerned about the ‘economic burden’ of elders, and several have adopted the active ageing paradigm to reform policy. However, gender differences that moderate the effect of active ageing have been little considered. As in other nations in the European Union, Swiss federal authorities use the active ageing paradigm to reshape ageing policies, including the provision of incentives to seniors to remain in the labour market. At the same time, many recent and proposed changes draw on the assumption of gender equality, even though actual parity has not yet been demonstrated. We know little about how gender shapes retirement in Switzerland, other than in relation to financial inequality between women and men. Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with Swiss retirees (N = 15) shows how men and women describe this time of life differently. All respondents characterised retirement as a time of freedom; but the meaning of such freedom diverged for men and women, reflecting the gender division of labour, which is further shaped by class. We discuss the implications of this difference for the gendered consequences of active ageing policies.

Conditions of existence and subjective perceptions of retirement: quantitative evidence from France

“…Our finding is thus in stark contrast with the negative stereotype associated with age: for our respondents, retirement does not mean social exclusion or ‘social death’ (Guillemard, 2002). Our result is consistent with recent qualitative findings for Switzerland that show that retirees describe retirement as a time of freedom (Repetti and Calasanti, 2018). It also corroborates earlier results on the positive social representations of retirement in France (Roland-Lévy and Berjot, 2009) and old age in Canada (Quéniart and Charpentier, 2012).…”

“…Indeed, previous research shows that ageing is a gendered process (Foster and Walker, 2013; Bozon et al ., 2018), due to differences in work trajectory (Bué, 2002), domestic and caring activities (Craig and Muller, 2010; Haberken et al ., 2015), and health status and life expectancy (Van Oyen et al ., 2013; Cambois et al ., 2017) between females and males, in particular. Moreover, the literature also finds that men and women have different retirement expectations and describe retirement in different ways (Onyx and Baker, 2006; Repetti and Calasanti, 2018). In our study, it may simply be the case that our variables are not precise enough to capture gender differences.…”

“…Moreover, using indepths interviews with 14 women before and after the retirement transition in the US, August show that the meaning of retirement is very diverse for older people and that "late freedom" is highly valued. Repetti and Calasanti (2018) conduct a qualitative analysis with 15 Swiss retirees and show that both men and women describe retirement as a time of freedom. However, using a feminist gerontological approach, they find that the meaning of freedom differs between genders and reflects the gender division of labour.…”

“…Moreover, for individuals for whom the workplace is an important context to socialise, retirement may represent a high risk of social exclusion. On the other hand, retirement may also be perceived in a more positive way, as a time of autonomy and freedom (Gestin, 2003; Repetti and Calasanti, 2018). As an example, for some people, retirement could represent an opportunity to spend time on things they never had time for before (Arbuz, 2013).…”

Is Retirement a Crisis for Men? Class and Adjustment to Retirement

“…In addition to work-based masculinities and class-bound respect, class structures ways in which people experience and interpret retirement (Barnes and Parry 2004; Repetti and Calasanti in press). We suggest that discourses around aging are met with varying, class-based abilities to respond, and this could influence the extent to which retirement represents crisis for any group of men looking to maintain their senses of self-respect.…”