Happy retirement?: The impact of employers' policies and practice on the process of retirement

Description

Any attempt by governments to stem the tide of early retirement will need to focus as much on employers' management of human resources as on the impacts of social policy. This report focuses on this previously neglected area: employers' policies and practice as a dynamic force in retirement decisions. Drawing on data from a series of organisational case studies that situate the individual's decisions and experience in the context of employers' age management policies, the report: examines how the retirement process is currently managed in a range of organisations; identifies barriers to effective planning for retirement; considers whether individuals feel there is enough choice when facing decisions about retirement; addresses the concerns of both researchers and academics in the fields of human resource management and social policy. Policy makers, employers and all those interested in the relationship between employers' policies, individual decisions and social policy should read the report.

Sarah Vickerstaff is Reader in Employment Policy and Practice at the University of Kent. In addition to work on employment and older workers, she is engaged in research on youth transitions into employment. John Baldock is Professor of Social Policy at the University of Kent. His main research interests concern the ageing population in industrial societies and the provision of care services for older people. Jennifer Cox was employed as a Research Associate on the research project and undertook most of the interviews discussed in the report. Linda Keen, Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour, Canterbury Business School, University of Kent. Her main research interest is in changing patterns of management in the public sector, especially local government.

"... immensely helpful for researchers and practitioners alike ... a valuable picture of the complex and changing face of retirement." Ageing & Society