1st Edition
The Rise and Fall of Retirement in the United States A Social History
Foreword by Scott Siff; Introduction; 1. The 1950s: A Tragic Waste; 2. The 1960s: A Retirement Revolution; 3. The 1970s: Alien Country; 4. The 1980s: A Dream Deferred; 5. The 1990s: The American Psyche; 6. The 2000s: A Quaint Artifact; 7. The 2010s: A New Proposition; 8. The 2020s: A Contradictory Relationship
Biography
Lawrence R. Samuel is a Miami-based author and independent scholar. He holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of Minnesota and is the author of many books including Diversity in the United States: A Cultural History of the Past Century (Routledge, 2023), Age Friendly: Ending Ageism in America (Routledge, 2022), and The American Middle Class: A Cultural History (Routledge, 2014).
“This is a clearly written and engaging treatment of the tensions surrounding retirement in the U.S. The book uses a historical time frame to highlight how retirement may or may not have been attainable for different population groups and how the goal of retirement has both moved closer to reality for many and then started to elude a growing share of people again. The book brings together several well documented strands of the literature related to retirement in an accessible way. This book will be a useful resource for general audiences and students in sociology and related fields, who want to get a grip on the social and political tensions that shape retirement and retirement policy.”
Christian E. Weller, Senior Fellow at American Progress and Professor of Public Policy at the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston
