Early retirement and work after retirement. Implications for the structure of the work society

Early exit from the formal work force and the lengthening of life in retirement pose new questions, both on the level of social structure and on that of emerging life-styles. Based on two empirical studies - one of workers who choose the new pre-retirement scheme, and one of retirees who engage themselves in organized work-like activities - we examine some of the consequences of this process. The studies combine qualitative and quantitative research methods and pay special attention to the biographical dimension. Our results show that under the pressure of the labor market, new forms of "flexible" or "gradual" transition to retirement empirically turn out to be retirement at the earliest possible moment. For the workers, early retirement is ambivalent: it threatens their concept of a "full work life", which is based on the time-table of the socially institutionalized normal biography; but this is offset by their desire to leave stressful work situations at least where the schemes for early retirement are financially and morally acceptable.