Relates responses of 69 librarians ranging in age from 39 to 84 to a two-page questionnaire concerning retirement planning. Personal experiences, financial concerns, continuing professional connections, alternative options, and the trauma and joys of retirement are noted. A 33-item bibliography is included. (EJS)

Analyzed predictors of retirement using data from seven longitudinal studies. Results show predictors of retirement vary depending on how retirement is defined. The strongest predictors of objective retirement are structural factors. Predictors of early retirement and of age at retirement include both structural factors and subjective factors.…

Postponed childbearing increases the likelihood that the responsibility for caring for frail elderly parents will coincide with the period of active mothering. A woman who is 40 at the time she first becomes a mother may easily have parents or other family members over the age of 65, or even over 85 years of age. Noting that 44 percent of women…

The author identifies and describes eight issues relevant to retirement preparation programs that can be used for program planning or setting criteria for program selection. (CH)

The author discusses the growing need to keep older workers in the labor force and the need for vocational education to address this population's need for retraining. He presents some of the problems and recommendations for older adult training programs. (CH)

Interviewed middle aged and older persons (N=70) who left their former occupations and took up second careers as artists or craftspersons selling through arts and crafts fairs. Most reported personal satisfaction and pleasure in the camaraderie. Nearly all reported that successful participation depended upon collaboration with spouses. (Author/JAC)

Stressing the value of mature learning and its distinction from learning in early adulthood, the author explores elements of "third quarter" education and expresses the need for institutions that focus on the issues and potentials of those past midlife. (SK)

Offers a brief overview of preretirement education in the United Kingdom and its meaning in an economy where forced redundancy can bring "retirement" at an early age. Highlights the Coping with Change Model, which focuses on insight into the feelings, issues, choices, and skills relevant to life changes. (DMM)

Analyzed the effects of marital status, race, and gender on the timing of suicide across three adult life stages. Logistic modeling showed distinct structural effects on the occurrence of suicide in midlife compared to the life stages immediately preceding and following it. Greater attention to the crises of women in midlife appears warranted.…

Early retirement programs offer individuals an alternative to the work ethic while allowing them to maintain job security. Examples are given of several early, partial, and phased retirement programs currently being used in universities and public school systems. (DF)

Building on interviews with 319 adults, examines cultural age "deadlines" for a series of general transitions related to education and work. Respondents indicated a rough, "normal biography" of general transitions which had flexible guidelines for how those trajectories might unfold. Relates these findings to complementary…

The author describes Japan's phased retirement system, consisting of the "step down" from a management or supervisory position (commonly in the mid-50s) and the mandatory transfer to a subsidiary company later. The system allows companies to promote younger workers. However, in a depressed industry, the system generally results in…

Results from a survey are presented that provide initial indications of the importance of linguistic and communicative processes to an understanding of midlife. The Communication Accommodation Theory is invoked in the development of a model of one particular process within the area of communication and middle-age--the socialization of the…

Identifies research issues of interest to life course and aging scholars that would be enriched by increased attention to social-psychological principles and, conversely, identification of social-psychological research topics that would be advanced by increased attention to life course and aging issues. (SNR)

Although the rate of divorce among older Americans has increased steadily, little attention has been paid to late life divorce. To describe the role of age and other factors which might influence adjustment to divorce in later life, data from a larger pilot study were used: 81 divorced persons over the age of 60 completed in-depth, structured…