In this paper, we compare the patterns of labor force withdrawal of older workers in seven OECD countries. We find wide variation in retirement patterns and recent trends. In Sweden and the United States, for example, it is relatively common for workers to combine retirement benefits and...

Are today's youngest retirees following in the footsteps of their older peers with respect to gradual retirement? Recent evidence from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) suggests that most older Americans with full-time career jobs later in life transitioned to another job prior to complete...

What role does self-employment play in the retirement process? Older Americans are staying in the labor force longer than prior trends would have predicted and many change jobs later in life. These job transitions are often within the same occupation or across occupations within wage- and-salary...

This paper investigates whether permanent, one-time retirements are coming to an end just as the trend towards earlier and earlier retirements did nearly 20 years ago. We explore how common bridge jobs are among today's retirees, and how uncommon traditional retirements have become. Methods:...

Using three waves of the ongoing Health and Retirement Survey, we document the labour force withdrawal patterns of a sample of older Americans aged 55-61 and working in 1992. We note the importance of Social Security and employer pension benefits for both the retired and the working populations...

One of the most important labor market developments of the last century was the sustained trend toward earlier retirement among American men. This trend came to at least a temporary halt in the mid-1980s. Since then, male participation rates at older ages have stabilized or even increased...