It's helpful when someone does the research to demonstrate the truth of what you think you already know. That seems to be the case with a study just published by a research team led by Angela Curl, a professor of social work at Case Western University.
Tapping into the National Institute of Aging's longitudinal study, the Health and Retirement Survey, Curl gathered information about how 1,118 married, two-income couples handled retirement. The conclusions won't shock anyone who's been paying the slightest attention: The line dividing retirement from "unretirement" (as Sun Life Financial calls it) is blurring.
Curl and her research team found 41 different retirement patterns for men and 49 for women. Said Curl: "People can go in and out of retirement, and women may leave the workforce at an earlier age than men for a variety of reasons, including caring for a sick family member."
Not much new there. But it doesn't hurt to have a reality check.
We did find this nugget of interest: About 40 percent of the individuals tracked had the same retirement pattern as their spouse. Reports the article, published in the Journal of Workplace Behaviorial Health: "What became evident is that retirement is a couple-level event."
1 comment:
What's happening with singles? There are more single households in America than households with married couples. Is the same true for boomers?
Rita
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