ABSTRACT
Inkeles and Usui have chosen a particularly topical subject. There probably has never before been a time when retirement regulations and the actual retirement age were so much under rapid change and in public debate. A cross-national perspective seems to be especially useful in this area, because in “one-country studies” statutory or behavioral changes cannot successfully be attributed to causal conditions. Take the case of West Germany as an example. The cohorts currently entering retirement are comprised of persons who have gone through severe strains and health hazards during and after World War 2. We might therefore expect that the current rapid decline of the retirement age relates to the exceptionally impaired health conditions of these cohorts. Such a conclusion might be supported by the observation that the actual retirement age for men is not higher than for women, although legal entitlement to retirement for women in the Federal Republic begins at age 60.
