“A policy of late retirement or cancelling compulsory retirement ought to be encouraged. This way, the ‘elderly’ label will be done away with and the hard feelings experienced by the retirees themselves would disappear, along with the stress that is felt as the time for the agreed retirement approaches. Everyone would be able to decide whether to continue working based on his or her abilities and desires,” suggested Sigal Naim, who carried out the study.
The study interviewed men who 3-5 years earlier had consented to taking early retirement from governmental companies that had undergone privatization. The survey found that the retirees view retirement age as an artificial “finishing line” that is intended primarily for insurance companies' actuarial balancing. The study participants did not consider themselves old and they all felt that they still have a long, enjoyable life ahead.
According to Naim, even though they willingly took early retirement – as opposed to forced early retirement – the principal feeling expressed by almost all of the participants was of profound disappointment in the workplace. She added that the centrality of employment in their lives, even quite a while after retirement, was expressed in the way they described themselves. When asked to tell their life story, most of the interviewees described themselves in detail in terms of their working career. Only a few chose to talk about family – and even then it was in only one or two sentences.
Pushed into Retirement
The study also revealed that even though the participants expressed satisfaction with retirement and that they chose to retire because the work did not suit them anymore, this may not be the full story. It is a cover-up – mostly for themselves – intended to bridge the difficult reality that has been forced upon them, Naim explained. It was a reality of disappointment, a sense of insult and understanding that if they refused to retire, their pension rights would be harmed.
Naim recommended a policy of late retirement or cancelling compulsory retirement.
“This would make the transition from a work-based life to retirement living smoother and less abrupt, and only those truly interested would opt for early retirement,” she said. “This would enable compensation for employees who continue and persevere at work, and when they do decide to retire, they would be guaranteed better financial conditions.”