Recent studies of retirement have recognized the importance of pension plans and social security on the retirement decisions. A pension system that is neutral with respect to the timing of benefits encourages or discourages the acceptance of these benefits and subsequent job separation at any particular age only to the extent that any asset…

Using a time series analysis to test the net empirical importance of the substitution and wealth effects associated with social security on the market of work of younger men, it was found that hours per week worked would have fallen off since 1936 without the present social security system. (Author)

Recent trends toward earlier retirement have exacerbated the financial problems facing the Social Security system and many other public and private pension plans. The massive commitment of public and private funds to Social Security and pension funds is partly responsible for the trend to early retirement. This, in fact, was one of the early goals…

This paper discusses the underlying economic forces present in our current pension system which are responsible for the drastic change in lifetime work patterns. It then develops a policy agenda to reverse the increasing trend toward segmentation of our lives into a period of full-time work followed by complete retirement. (Author)

Special issue articles discuss the following aspects of the Health and Retirement Study: retirement measures, health measures, family structure and transfer, economic status, racial and ethnic differences, transfer behavior, race and education differences in disability and labor force status, evaluation of the subjective probabilities of survival,…