The Evolution Of Retirement

Winner of the 1998 Paul A. Samuelson Award given by TIAA-CREF, The Evolution of Retirement is the first comprehensive economic history of retirement in America. With life expectancies steadily increasing, the retirement rate of men over age 64 has risen drastically. Dora L. Costa looks at factors underlying this increase and shows the dramatic implications of her findings for both the general public and the U.S. government. Using statistical, and demographic concepts, Costa sheds light on such important topics as rising incomes and retirement, work and disease, the job prospects of older workers, living arrangements of the elderly, the development of a retirement lifestyle, and pensions and politics. "[Costa's] major contribution is to show that, even without Social Security and Medicare, retirement would have expanded dramatically."—Robert J. Samuelson, New Republic "An important book on a topic which has become popular with historians and is of major significance to politicians and economists."—Margaret Walsh, Business History

This ninth phase of the International Social Security project, which studies the experiences of twelve developed countries, examines the effects of public pension reform on employment at older ages. In the past two decades, men’s labor force participation at older ages has increased, reversing a long-term pattern of decline; participation rates for older women have increased dramatically as well. While better health, more education, and changes in labor-supply behavior of married couples may have affected this trend, these factors alone cannot explain the magnitude of the employment increase or its large variation across countries. The studies in this volume explore how financial incentives to work at older ages have evolved as a result of public pension reforms since 1980 and how these changes have affected retirement behavior. Utilizing a common template to analyze the developments across countries, the findings suggest that social security reforms have strengthened the financial returns to working at older ages and that these enhanced financial incentives have contributed to the rise in late-life employment.

From the Wharton School, offering a comprehensive assessment of the political and financial dimensions of public-sector pensions from the colonial period until the emergence of modern retirement plans in the twentieth century.

Presenting the evolution of supplementary pensions over the past 25 years, this comprehensive book introduces the origin of pensions as a concept and explores the role that international organisations play within the field. It draws comparisons between different welfare states, reflecting upon current research and identifying new directions and ideas.

This handbook reviews existing theoretical perspectives and research findings on retirement, explores current and future challenges in retirement research and practice, and provides corresponding recommendations and suggestions.

This report examines whether the current mix of tax preferences for employer-sponsored pensions and individual retirement saving in the U.S. is delivering the best possible retirement-preparedness across and within generations. Using data for 1989 through 2013, cohort-based analysis of life-cycle trajectories shows that (1) overall retirement plan participation was stable or even rising through 2007, though participation fell in the wake of the Great Recession and has remained lower; (2) participation is strongly correlated with income, and the shift in the type of pension coverage occurred within -- not just across -- income groups; and (3) the recent decline in retirement plan participation and defined contributions (DC) retirement account balance-to-income ratios is concentrated among younger families and lower-income families. Figures. This is a print on demand report.

Describes policy directions, especially defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans, and their implications for both employers and employees. Reflects on issues of partial retirement, multi-employers plans, savings plans, and the potential and pitfalls of US Federal pension policy.