Rethinking Work, Ageing and Retirement – serie

More people are extending their working lives through necessity or choice in the context of increasingly precarious labour markets and neoliberalism. This book goes beyond the aggregated statistics to explore the lived experiences of older people attempting to make job transitions. Drawing on the voices of older workers in a diverse range of European countries, leading scholars explore job redeployment and job mobility, temporary employment, unemployment, employment beyond pension age and transitions into retirement.This book makes a major contribution and will be essential reading within a range of disciplines, including social gerontology, management, sociology and social policy.

The symptoms of menopause transitions have profound implications for work and are, in turn, affected by work. Despite this, the topic is rarely discussed in management and organization studies. Providing an overview of existing knowledge in the field of menopause in the workplace, this collection re-theorizes the management of human resources as it relates to the connections between gender, age and the body in the workplace environment with an intersectional analysis. Offering theoretical frameworks from experts as well as possible practical approaches that can be implemented in workplaces to support women transitioning through menopause, this is a go-to reference for academics and policy makers working in the field.

Pension policy in the UK and US is designed on the assumption that people make informed financial decisions, consistently invest in pensions and manage diverse portfolios. Deviating from this is often deemed irresponsible and irrational. However, this assumption overlooks uncontrollable factors like caring duties, employment breaks or income limitations. Even when individuals act as expected, unpredictable market shifts can hinder long-term planning. This book redefines deviations to “rational behaviour” as logical responses to a dysfunctional system. Challenging existing theoretical discussions and policy approaches, it proposes a fresh perspective on rationality when it comes to financial practices and policy.

Pension policy in the UK and US is designed on the assumption that people make informed financial decisions, consistently invest in pensions and manage diverse portfolios. Deviating from this is often deemed irresponsible and irrational. However, this assumption overlooks uncontrollable factors like caring duties, employment breaks or income limitations. Even when individuals act as expected, unpredictable market shifts can hinder long-term planning. This book redefines deviations to “rational behaviour” as logical responses to a dysfunctional system. Challenging existing theoretical discussions and policy approaches, it proposes a fresh perspective on rationality when it comes to financial practices and policy.

Growing up and older at work is something we all experience, yet it remains surprisingly overlooked and under theorized in management and organization studies. In this groundbreaking book, Kathleen Riach draws on a 10 year longitudinal study to offer fresh theoretical and empirical insights into how ageing is experienced in the workplace. Introducing a new phenomenological theory of ageing at work, the book examines how individuals negotiate age-biased workplace cultures and adapt to their changing bodies within the context of financial capitalism. It reveals that ageing at work is not simply about demographic change or ageist stereotypes, but is an ongoing process that involves balancing professional expectations, the life course, and the self.