The Dream of Retirement Unravels

The book traces retirement from a promise of rest to an increasingly uncertain and work-filled old age.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

A Social Invention

A Social Invention From work until death For much of history, people worked until they could not. Early pension proposals and social insurance gradually make old age a recognized period of life. A public guarantee emerges The American Social Security system develops during the Great Depression. Retirement becomes a social institution, not simply an individual’s ability to stop working.

The Stool Loses Its Legs

The Stool Loses Its Legs Risk shifts to households Employer pensions give way to individual retirement accounts, while savings and investments remain exposed to market losses. Families carry more responsibility for their own future. A fragile replacement The traditional three-legged stool of Social Security, pensions, and savings weakens. The economic crisis deepens insecurity for people whose homes and investments lose value.

Working Past Retirement Age

Working Past Retirement Age Leisure recedes Older Americans increasingly remain in the labor force, often because benefits and savings do not cover living costs. Seasonal warehouse and campground jobs become part of later life. A changed meaning The people in the book complicate the stereotype of the wealthy retiree. For many, retirement is not a choice between leisure and work, but a question of how long their bodies can keep earning.

From the nineteenth century to 1935

From the 1980s through the 2008 crisis

By 2016