Welfare Reform on the Web (April 2005): Pensions - UK

RETIREMENT AND RISK: THE INDIVIDUALISATION OF RETIREMENT EXPERIENCES?

S. Vickerstaff and J. Cox

Sociological Review, vol.53, 2005, p.77-95

In contrast to traditional notions of fixed, mass retirement transitions, patterns of individualisation within retirement and pensions experience may be identified. This paper, contextualised by issues such as financial risk avoidance within changing employer pension schemes, decreasing savings values within private pensions, and early retirement, draws from case studies of retirement transitions in two organisations to identify patterns of individualisation marked more by increased ranges of risk experienced by the individual, than by increased choices about how and when to retire.