[On the problem of retirement crisis.]

Retirement is first defined as a transitory period from a working situation to a situation of definite cessation of work. In order to understand this transitory process, the author looks into the importance of work as a determinant of life conditions and as a structuring influence in life conducts. The change brought about by retirement involves many upheavals on a social level (relationship, loss of income, economical dependency) as well as on a personal level (return to a home life, modification of relationships within the couple and the family life). The importance of these upheavals is such and their effects so acute that retirement is defined as a crisis situation.