关键词: 经济转型, 退休轨迹, 多元化, 序列分析, 性别差异

Abstract: In the context of population ageing and economic transformation, it is important to have a better understanding of the retirement process of urban workers to improve employment and retirement policies for the elderly. The present study proposes that the process of retirement should be seen as a continuous trajectory, and population heterogeneity and macro-socioeconomic background should be fully considered. Drawing data from the Life History Survey Questionnaire of 2014 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we apply sequence analysis and identify 5 typical retirement trajectories of male elderly (retiring at age 60, retiring at age 55, early retirement, informal employment and long-time unemployment) and 4 typical retirement trajectories of female elderly (retiring before age 50, retiring at age 55, long-time unemployment and informal employment). By comparing the differences in the discrepancy of the retirement trajectories between generations, we find that the labour exit trajectories of older people show a significant trend of de-standardisation during the economic transition period of China. Notably, the pattern of de-standardisation differs between genders, with women showing a higher degree of de-standardisation, while men showing more rapidly increases of de-standardisation over generations.

Keywords: Economic Transition, Retirement Trajectories, De-standardisation, Sequence Analysis, Gender Difference