[Age boundaries as social regulation of individual life organization: an anachronism?]

As part of the modern institutionalization of the life course, chronological age boundaries have become highly salient even though they seem to contradict many of the values and systemic requirements of modern societies. During the past few decades, strict age boundaries have been increasingly criticized, and empirically they have become somewhat more fluid. Are they today an anachronism? I treat this question by focusing on the age boundary between work and retirement, and distinguish two levels: its weight for structuring behavior and its meaning for the actors. On both levels, the age boundary is still highly effective. As a last step, I discuss whether the age boundary is (still) "reasonable", especially with regard to the functional conditions of labor markets and social security systems.