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

摘要： 在人口老龄化与经济转型背景下，增进对劳动者退休过程的认识有利于完善老年人就业及退休政策。应将退休过程视作连续轨迹进行研究，并充分考虑人群异质性与宏观社会经济背景对其影响。利用中国健康与养老追踪调查（CHARLS）2014年生命历程调查中的工作史数据，采用序列分析方法识别出中国城镇男性老年人典型退休轨迹（60岁退休型、55岁退休型、提前退休型、长期失业型和非正规就业型）和女性老年人典型退休轨迹（50岁前退休型、55岁退休型、长期失业型和非正规就业型）。通过比较代际间退休轨迹分布的离散程度差异发现，在经济转型过程中，老年人退休轨迹呈现出明显的多元化特征和性别差异，女性轨迹的多元化程度更高，男性轨迹随代际递增的多元化趋势更为明显。

关键词: 经济转型, 退休轨迹, 多元化, 序列分析, 性别差异