Review by Choice Review
In the 19th century three-quarters or more of men over age 64 were still in the labor force. Retirement, when it preceded death, was short and tempered by financial worries and the risk of loss of independence. Today, in contrast, more than 80 percent of them are retired and can look forward to many years of additional life and independent living. This change represents an economic and social revolution of the first order, and Costa (MIT) traces this evolution in retirement in three distinct phases spread over the past 110 years, each associated with heightened financial security. The first dates from the payment of pensions to Civil War Union Army veterans; the second, from the 1930s and the passage of Social Security; the third, from about 1960 with the spread of private pension plans and the expansion of Social Security coverage. The core of this study, however, is a sophisticated quantitative economic analysis of a sample of Union Army veterans linked to the census records and to their pension and health records at the turn of the century. The result is an important, original contribution but a difficult read for the econometric neophyte. Recommended for graduate, research, and professional collections. J. Atack; Vanderbilt University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
In 1880, more than 75 percent of men over age 64 were working; in 1900, 65 percent; in 1950, 47 percent; and today, less than 20 percent. Costa, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics professor, explores American workers' retirement trends in a demanding but cogent history of retirement. Transfer payments--Union army pensions before social security was established--matter, but "over time, men's retirement decision has become less sensitive to increases or decreases in income." Today, more retirees can remain (at least relatively) independent of their families and can choose from a variety of relatively inexpensive leisure-time activities; retirement thus exerts a strong pull, rather than meaning the worker has been pushed out the door. Given current political concern about the future of the social security and medicare systems, Costa's analysis of how U.S. men's retirement behavior has changed over the past century--older women were still more concerned about widowhood than about retirement into the '70s--is timely. --Mary Carroll
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
