Retirees of the world

International Retirement facts

• British over 60’s are the best educated in Europe
• 1% of British Pensions are spent on cultural pursuits
• Spanish Retirees spend on average an hour a day being active
  
• People in France are one of the earliest to retire
• In Mexico many men continue to work past retirement age due to financial difficulties. This means that they need to work until they are 72, which is longer than the average life expectancy!
• Half of the older adults in South Korea are dependent on the state
• Shopping and travelling are popular pastimes in France
• Dutch senior citizens are the most prudent when planning for retirement, with a mere 1.4% requiring assistance. This allows them to enjoy eating out and travel which are the main expenditures
• German retirees are the most sober
• Older aged adults in Germany travel the most in retirement, compared to Polish retirees who travel the least.
• 3% of Spanish pensions are spent on eating out
• Retirement is a rarity in tribal and village society, within Euro-American society it is a recent phenomena. Retirement can be examined in any culture … as a social institution … set of personal meanings. (Margaret Clark 1972:112, 121).
• In Fulani, a West African society, retirement comes to a couple after their last child is married. Their remaining cattle are transferred to the new family and the couple live as dependents with their oldest son. They are segregated from the tribe and sleep on the outskirts of the community, literally over where they will be buried.
• Older adults in the remote Andes are often given tasks to complete which are suitable to their abilities

Stereotypes

Blaine (2007) highlights research into old age stereotyping by Schmidt & Boland (1986) and Hummert et al (1994). From their work, the above subgroups of stereotypes and corresponding traits were assigned based on peoples preconceptions of old age. It is stereotypes such as these that lead to myths about retirees.

Subgroup	Traits
Despondent	neglected, sad, afraid, lonely
Severely impaired	feeble, slow thinking, senile
Shrew/curmudgeon	ill-tempered, complaining, prejudiced, stubborn, nosy
Recluse	quiet, timid, live in past, set in ways
John Wayne conservative	proud, patriotic, wealthy, conservative, religious
Perfect grandparent	kind, generous, family oriented, wise
Golden Ager	intelligent, productive, healthy, independent

 

References

Blaine, B.E. (2007) Understanding the Psychology of Diversity. Trowbridge: Sage. Pp. 177 – [http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/50361_ch_9.pdf]

Schmidt, D. F., & Boland, S. M. (1986) Structure of perceptions of older adults: Evidence for multiple stereotypes. Psychology and Aging, 1(3), pp. 255–260.

Hummert, M., Garstka, T., Shaner, J., & Strahm, S. (1994) Stereotypes of the elderly held by young, middle-aged, and elderly adults. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 49, pp. 240–249

Luborsky, M. R., & Leblanc, I. M. (2003) Cross-cultural perspectives on the concept of retirement: An analytic redefinition. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 18(4), pp. 251–271.