Women's retirement, work and life paths: changes, disruptions and discontinuities

In this qualitative study we examine women's perceptions and interpretations of the impact of retirement on their life experience, whether retirement was encountered from unexpected workplace redundancies, through their own decisions, or those of their partner. In the first instance we examine traditional definitions and meanings of retirement and their relevance to women's experience. Any theoretical explanation that work is central to defining core identity and social integration is challenged. Secondly, this study provides some alternative ways to examine changes in work, disruptions, and discontinuities in the context of women's life paths. Whereas specific identities and roles may be important, being able to contribute to social life, whether through paid or unpaid work or through self-interests, may be more appropriate determinants of societal integration, than identities that are formed and maintained by a production-oriented society.