Salience of retirement pathway types in the reviewed literature
| Pathway type | Number of studies (n = 32) | Typical datasets | Dominant institutional contexts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gradual/phased retirement (including reduction of hours, phased exit) | 11 | HRS, SHARE, ELSA, GSOEP | Liberal and corporatist regimes with flexible labour markets and options for part-time retirement (USA, UK, Germany, Netherlands) |
| Bridge employment (employment after leaving career job but before full retirement) | 10 | HRS, CPS, BHPS, SHARE | Countries with flexible employment structures and weak restrictions on post-retirement work (especially USA, UK) |
| Crisp/full retirement (direct transition from full-time work to retirement) | 9 | HRS, SHARE, national panel surveys | Institutional systems with clearly defined statutory retirement ages and pension eligibility rules |
| Reversible pathways/unretirement (return to work after retirement) | 7 | HRS, ELSA, longitudinal panel surveys | Liberal labour markets enabling post-retirement employment (USA, UK) |
| Involuntary or alternative exits (unemployment, disability, inactivity before retirement) | 11 | Register data, SHARE, national pension registers | Welfare regimes with multiple benefit channels for labour-market exit (e.g. disability pensions in Finland, Netherlands, Germany) |
| Joint retirement trajectories (couple-based retirement coordination) | 2 | HRS, household panel surveys | Dual-earner household contexts, mostly analysed in the USA |
| Pathway type | Number of studies ( | Typical datasets | Dominant institutional contexts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gradual/phased retirement (including reduction of hours, phased exit) | 11 | HRS, SHARE, ELSA, GSOEP | Liberal and corporatist regimes with flexible labour markets and options for part-time retirement (USA, UK, Germany, Netherlands) |
| Bridge employment (employment after leaving career job but before full retirement) | 10 | HRS, CPS, BHPS, SHARE | Countries with flexible employment structures and weak restrictions on post-retirement work (especially USA, UK) |
| Crisp/full retirement (direct transition from full-time work to retirement) | 9 | HRS, SHARE, national panel surveys | Institutional systems with clearly defined statutory retirement ages and pension eligibility rules |
| Reversible pathways/unretirement (return to work after retirement) | 7 | HRS, ELSA, longitudinal panel surveys | Liberal labour markets enabling post-retirement employment (USA, UK) |
| Involuntary or alternative exits (unemployment, disability, inactivity before retirement) | 11 | Register data, SHARE, national pension registers | Welfare regimes with multiple benefit channels for labour-market exit (e.g. disability pensions in Finland, Netherlands, Germany) |
| Joint retirement trajectories (couple-based retirement coordination) | 2 | HRS, household panel surveys | Dual-earner household contexts, mostly analysed in the USA |
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