The Evolution of Retirement: An American Economic History, 1880-1990

The Evolution of Retirement is the first comprehensive economic history of retirement in America. With life expectancies steadily increasing, the retirement rate of men over 64 has risen drastically. Dora Costa looks at factors underlying this increase and shows the dramatic implications of her findings for both the general public and the U.S. government. With the aid of economic, statistical, and demographic concepts, Costa explains trends in retirement data. Her examination sheds light on such important topics as rising incomes and retirement, work and disease, the job prospects of older workers, elderly living arrangements, the rise of a retirement lifestyle, and pensions and politics. She concludes with a look into the future and further evolution of retirement, addressing perhaps the most vexing problem of retirement policy, the impact of the aging Baby Boom generation on the Social Security System.