ABSTRACT
The period of old age is now characterized by two distinctive features: first, the growth in the proportion of the population aged 60 to 65 and over; second, the withdrawal of older people (especially men) from the labor market. In the case of Britain, in the late 19th century, nearly three fourths of men aged 65 and over were still in employment; by the early 1950s, this had fallen to one third; and by the end of the 1990s, just 3% of men were employed full-time (the figure for women was 1%).
