Retirement Transitions Among Married Couples

Retirement is often viewed as an event when someone completely withdraws from paid employment. The purpose of the present study was to examine the patterns of retirement transitions evidenced in married couples in the Health and Retirement Study over an 8-year period (1992 to 2000). The sample consisted of White and Black married couples (N = 1,118) where both spouses were working and at least one spouse was aged 51 to 61 at baseline. A variety of complex retirement patterns were found. Husbands were more likely than wives to show a linear pattern (i.e., a transition directly from work to complete retirement). Transitions were related within couples. Policy and practice implications are discussed.