Sign-In
Cart
The Rise and Fall of Retirement in the United States: A Social History
Paperback
Aging & Elder CareGeneral Sociology
ISBN13: 9781041403487
Publisher: Routledge
Published: Nov 9 2026
Pages: 232
Language: English
A social history of retirement in the United States, this book tells the fascinating story of retirement from the mid-20th century right up to today through a social and cultural lens -revealing key insights into the status of older people in American society at different points in the country's history.
The Rise and Fall of Retirement in the United States details how retirement has been heavily promoted to Americans as a much-deserved reward for decades of hard work since it became an institution in the United States in the late 19th century as a means to replace older workers with younger and cheaper ones. Retirement was popularly portrayed as a kind of paradise - an idyllic experience in which one was liberated from having to support oneself and one's family through work. Made possible by pensions and social security, one's golden years could and should be a happy stage of life filled with rest, relaxation, and leisure, Americans were told, but cracks in this narrative began to appear in the 1950s when a steady stream of research and anecdotal evidence showed there to be powerful social and psychological benefits of work. Over the following decades, not just social but economic and political forces worked against retirement, significantly reducing its cultural currency.
Lawrence R. Samuel reveals the wide gap between how retirement was sold to Americans and how it was experienced, and is an important resource for students and instructors in sociology, political sociology, social policy, aging studies, American cultural and political studies, and modern history, as well as for policy makers and analysts.
Also from
Samuel, Lawrence
Home Ownership in America: A Socio-Cultural History of Housing in the United States
Samuel, Lawrence
Paperback
Home Ownership in America: A Socio-Cultural History of Housing in the United States
Samuel, Lawrence
Hardcover
Also in
General Sociology
I Can't Believe I Did That: The Game That Gives You Points for Sharing Awkward, Awesome, and Unforgettable Memories: Card Games
Nadelberg, David
Katcher, Neil
Other
Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea
Hunt-Hendrix, Leah
Taylor, Astra
Hardcover
Designed for Hi-Fi Living: The Vinyl LP in Midcentury America
Borgerson, Janet
Schroeder, Jonathan
Paperback
Guerrilleros and Neighbours in Arms: Identities & Cultures of Anti-Fascist Resistance in Spain
Marco
Paperback
Urban Revolutions: Urbanisation and (Neo-)Colonialism in Transatlantic Context
Kipfer, Stefan
Paperback
The Destiny of Modern Societies: The Calvinist Predestination of a New Society
Zafirovski, Milan
Paperback
Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100
Kaku, Michio
Hardcover
The Agrarian Seeds of Empire: The Political Economy of Agriculture in Us State Building
Bauerly, Brad
Paperback
The Sociogony: Social Facts and the Ontology of Objects, Things, and Monsters
Worrell, Mark P.
Paperback
Revolution and Its Alternatives: Other Marxisms, Other Empowerments, Other Priorities
Brass, Tom
Paperback
How to Be Less Stupid about Race: On Racism, White Supremacy, and the Racial Divide
Fleming, Crystal M.
Hardcover
The Day It Finally Happens: Alien Contact, Dinosaur Parks, Immortal Humans--And Other Possible Phenomena
Pearl, Mike
Paperback
Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets
Kretzmann, John P.
Paperback
Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World
McNeill, J. R.
Paperback
Screening Out the Past: The Birth of Mass Culture and the Motion Picture Industry
May, Lary
Paperback
The Clash of Globalizations: Neo-Liberalism, the Third Way and Anti-Globalization
Kiely, Ray
Paperback
Aging Out: An Exploration of Caregiving, Community, and How Americans Grow Old
Schiller, Lucy
Hardcover
AI for Good: How Real People Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Fix Things That Matter
Tyrangiel, Josh
Hardcover
There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Goldstone, Brian
Paperback
The Story of Your Life: How Social Media Shapes the Way We Experience Everything
Jezer-Morton, Kathryn
Hardcover
If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All
Soares, Nate
Yudkowsky, Eliezer
Hardcover
Doing Small Things with Great Love: How Everyday Humanitarians Are Changing the World
Eubank, Sharon
Hardcover
American Alt: A True Story of Madness and Friendship in a Fractured Country
Lockhart, Chris
Hardcover
Shadow Before the Flame: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Prelude to War
Katz, Catherine Grace
Hardcover
There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Goldstone, Brian
Hardcover
Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online
Latifi, Fortesa
Hardcover
The Culting of America: What Makes a Cult and Why We Love Them
Reed, Amy
Mestyanek Young, Daniella
Hardcover
Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong--and What You Really Need to Know
Oster, Emily
Paperback
Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home
Grant, Stephen Starring
Paperback
Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering
Gladwell, Malcolm
Paperback
Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile
Goodyear, Sarah
Gordon, Doug
Naparstek, Aaron
Hardcover
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement
Davis, Angela Y.
Paperback
The Tribe and I Have Spoken: The Definitive (Unofficial) Lore and Legacy from the Game's Smartest Surviving Loser
Kavutskiy, Alex
Cesternino, Rob
Hardcover
Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care
Hayes, Kelly
Kaba, Mariame
Paperback
Scream with Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968-1980)
Johnson, Eleanor
Hardcover
Pay Attention: How the Algorithms and Media Wars Are Suppressing Truth and Rewiring Your Brain
Pakman, David
Hardcover
The Power Broker (Pulitzer Prize Winner): Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
Caro, Robert A.
Paperback
Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves
Gilbert, Sophie
Paperback
Who We Are Becoming Matters: The Courage, Wisdom, and Aloha We Need in a Timeplace of Collapse
Wong, Norma Kaweloku
Paperback
One Bad Mother: In Praise of Psycho Housewives, Stage Parents, Momfluencers, and Other Women We Love to Hate
Dickson, Ej
Hardcover
Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI
Veliz, Carissa
Hardcover
From Life Itself: Turkey, Istanbul, and a Neighborhood in the Age of Erdoğan
Hansen, Suzy
Hardcover
Te vas a morir y todavía no has empezado a vivir: 29 principios para vivir mejor (y con más sentido)
Moreno Montana, Uli
Falces, Laura
Paperback
Street Smarts: Trust Your Instincts, Outsmart Danger, and Stay Safe in a World That Isn't
Eve, Dannah
Hardcover
Our Minds Were Always Free: A History of How Black Brilliance Was Exploited--And the Fight to Retake Control
Davis, Lisa E.
Hardcover
In Sickness and in Health: Love Stories from the Front Lines of America's Caregiving Crisis
Mauldin, Laura
Hardcover
Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster
Higginbotham, Adam
Paperback
Killers of Roe: My Investigation Into the Mysterious Death of Abortion Rights
Littlefield, Amy
Hardcover
How to Break Up with Your Phone, Revised Edition: The 30-Day Digital Detox Plan
Price, Catherine
Paperback
One Nation Under Blackmail - Vol. 1: The Sordid Union Between Intelligence and Crime That Gave Rise to Jeffrey Epstein, Vol.1
Webb, Whitney Alyse
Paperback
Las Como Hablar para que Los Ninos Escuchen: y Como Escuchar para que los Ninos Hablen
Mazlish, Elaine
Faber, Adele
Paperback
Hated by All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind
Zengerle, Jason
Hardcover
The Goddess That Failed: Feminism's Unending War against Men, Families, and Civilization Itself
Fiamengo, Janice
Paperback
Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home
Grant, Stephen Starring
Hardcover
Nostalgic Word Search for Adults and Seniors (Large/Big Print) (Large Print Edition)
Press Books, D&e
Paperback
Torched: How a City Was Left to Burn, and the Olympic Rush to Rebuild L.A.
Vigliotti, Jonathan
Hardcover