Deck 13: Work and Retirement

Question 1

Most scholars would agree that modern day retirement is

A) a necessity for older, worn out workers
B) the receipt of an old age pension
C) the result of social security policies
D) a social invention of the 20^th century
E) a response to the poverty of older workers

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Stepping down refers to a

A) a formal process of withdrawal from work by men and women
B) a formal process of passing the family farm to adult children
C) a process where older women became dependent on their sons
D) an informal process of withdrawal from work by farmers
E) a maintenance agreement between generations

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The stepping down of women in agrarian times depended on their husbands because

A) their daughters married and left the farm
B) women did not work outside of the home
C) women had little involvement in running the farm
D) ownership of property was legally in the hands of the male
E) women had no independent income from their husbands

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Maintenance agreements were used to document the nature of the

A) transition of the farm to adult children
B) the inheritance to be provided to children and the care of the older couple
C) the inheritance of a woman based on her contribution to farm labour
D) the tasks of sons and daughters in maintaining the farm
E) how the farm was to be maintained by the wife at the death of the farmer

Question 5

The paternalistic concern for older workers in the 1850s by employers was driven by

A) a need to fulfill work quotas in a world recession
B) a serious labour force shortage in Canada
C) a genuine concern for the well-being of older workers
D) a way to make older workers more productive
E) a way to protect older workers from hard work

Question 6

The first company in Canada to offer a type of annuity plan to deserving workers was the

A) CNR
B) CPR
C) Calvin and Company
D) St. Maurice Forges
E) The Hudson Bay Company

Question 7

The life course institutionalization hypothesis means

A) over the long term individual lives have been increasingly organized by the bonds of the family and the state
B) over the long term, individual lives have been increasingly organized by institutions of the state and the workplace
C) over the long term, individual lives have been increasingly organized by institutions of the state and public pensions
D) over the long term, individual lives have been increasingly organized by bureaucracies
E) over the long term, individual lives have been increasingly organized by big business

Question 8

The Ford Motor Company introduced a false hierarchy in the workplace based on seniority rather than skill to combat

A) the high unemployment rate of older workers
B) the deskilling of older workers
C) to re-instate traditional work discipline
D) the high turnover rates of workers
E) the lack of productivity amongst older workers

Question 9

In order to cap the false hierarchy based on seniority, the Ford Motor Company introduced

A) one of the first pension plans
B) mandatory retirement
C) an annuity plan for deserving workers
D) an early retirement plan
E) a gradual retirement plan

Question 10

A prevailing view of older workers during the industrial era was that they

A) lacked appropriate skills
B) there were "too many" older workers
C) they were subject to the "wear-and-tear" theory of aging
D) they were taking jobs away from younger workers
E) they were paid too much compared to younger workers

Question 11

The majority report of the Royal Commission on the Relations of Labour and Capital in 1889 was the impetus for

A) the Government Annuities Act of 1908
B) the introduction of social welfare for older workers
C) the repeal of the Poor Laws
D) the closing of Poor Houses
E) the introduction of homes for the aged

Question 12

The Government Annuities Act of 1908

A) did not help the working class labourer save for old age
B) was gender inclusive when it came to saving for old age
C) was successful in reaching the people who needed it the most
D) did not benefit the wealthy in their attempts to save for old age
E) was beneficial to older women who saved for old age

Question 13

The Old Age Pensions Act was passed in 1927 because of

A) the poverty of older workers forced out of the labour force
B) a study done of the poor older workers
C) flaws in the Government Annuities Act
D) political infighting by the Liberal Party
E) concern for mothers who worked

Question 14

One of the three major problems with the Old Age Pensions Act of 1927 was

A) it was geared only to male workers and their families
B) benefits were flat rate benefits paid to workers
C) the state could recover the cost of the pension from the pensioner's estate at death
D) the legislation was enacted too hastily for most Canadians
E) administering the pension from Ottawa was disorganized

Question 15

The Old Age Security Act of 1951 operated on the principle of

A) social assistance
B) social insurance
C) social rights
D) social protection
E) social risk

Question 16

The Old Age Security Act of 1951 was enacted in response to

A) social action by advocates for older workers
B) the devastation found in Poor Houses
C) the need for social assistance
D) high unemployment rates
E) the great Depression and World War II

Question 17

The Old Age Assistance Act operated on the principle of

A) social assistance
B) social security
C) social rights
D) social protection
E) social risk

Question 18

Private pension schemes grew during World War II in response to

A) unemployment
B) labour force shortages
C) the war economy
D) women's increased employment
E) the need for social security

Question 19

Taken together, both public and private pensions facilitated the

A) institutionalization of work
B) return of women to the labour force
C) return of women to the home
D) spread of retirement
E) spread of labour shortages

Question 20

Which pension was a compulsory, contributory plan with benefits linked to wages?

A) Guaranteed Income Supplement
B) Old Age Security Pension
C) Canada/Quebec Pension
D) Disability benefits
E) the Allowance

Question 21

What pension matured in 1976?

A) The Allowance
B) Guaranteed Income Supplement
C) C/QPP
D) Old Age Assistance
E) Old Age Security Pension

Question 22

What occurred once the three tiers of the pension system were firmly in place?

A) pension was no longer financially guaranteed by the state
B) the GIS was phased out
C) retirement became economically attractive
D) the C/QPP was phased out
E) most Canadians had no desire to retire

Question 23

What factor made women's retirement different from men's?

A) women did not work and they were not paid wages
B) work outside the home was secondary to men's
C) work inside and outside the home was not recognized by society
D) work inside and outside of the home was limited to childcare
E) work inside and outside the home was seen as unpaid domestic labour

Question 24

In Canada today, Canadians

A) are worried about retiring
B) want to retire, and preferably early
C) want to retire at later ages
D) are against mandatory retirement
E) want to retire at age 65

Question 25

The median ages of retirement in Canada for men and women in 2003 were approximately

A) 63 for men and 60 for women
B) 60 for men and 63 for women
C) 59 for men and 62 for women
D) 62 for men and 59 for women
E) 59 for men and 55 for women

Question 26

Women's labour force patterns are different from men because of the

A) increase in labour force participation in the 1960s only
B) trend toward early retirement
C) trend toward later retirement
D) increase in labour force participation and a trend to early retirement
E) increase in labour force participation and a trend to late retirement

Question 27

It has been suggested that the labour participation rates of women have been flat in the 1990s because of

A) the full integration of women into the labour force
B) the full integration of men into the labour force
C) lower birth rates in the 1990s
D) larger baby-boom cohorts of women
E) slower growth in the economy

Question 28

Retirement has changed today in the following way:

A) it has become less institutionalized
B) it has become more institutionalized
C) it is more likely to be chronologically determined
D) it is more tightly regulated by the state
E) it can be achieved through fewer routes

Question 29

When Canadians return to work after retirement they are more likely to take

A) full-time jobs
B) part-time jobs
C) seasonal jobs
D) the same jobs
E) new jobs

Question 30

Those who study retirement as a social role would be most interested in

A) retirement as a social institution
B) state policies on retirement
C) how retirement is approached, assumed, and relinquished
D) workplace policies on retirement
E) valid measures for quantifying retirement

Question 31

How retirement is measured is important because

A) objective measures are more accurate than subjective measures
B) labour force participation is difficult to measure
C) people are not always sure if they are retired
D) it will determine who will or will not be counted as retired
E) it varies depending on who is measuring retirement

Question 32

Very few theories of retirement

A) focus of the macro-level of social structure
B) focus on the micro-level of individual actors
C) attempt to link the micro- and macro-levels
D) focus on the individual level and the population level
E) focus on the population level and the group level

Question 33

At the micro-level of theory development, many theories of social aging have been influenced by the

A) critical paradigm
B) functional paradigm
C) interpretative paradigm
D) postmodern paradigm
E) post-positivist paradigm

Question 34

One of the major underlying limitations of the early micro theories of retirement is

A) the focus on the inevitability of physical, social, and psychological aspects of the aging process
B) the focus on individual perceptions of retirement
C) the focus on the social constraints placed on individual retirement
D) the focus on the effects of the economy on retirement
E) the focus on the effect of social relationships on retirement

Question 35

What macro theory of retirement is centred on the concept of linked roles?

A) modernization theory
B) political economy theory
C) life span theory
D) age stratification theory
E) life course theory

Question 36

According to the life course perspective, retirement would be seen as

A) one of life's age-graded transitions
B) one of life's gender-linked transitions
C) one of life's work-linked transitions
D) life's last role transitions into old age
E) one of life's state-determined transitions

Question 37

Political economy theory was developed to offset the following problem

A) inattention to individual issues
B) inattention to people's perceptions of retirement
C) inattention to social constructions of retirement
D) inattention to structural issues
E) inattention to reflexivity and retirement

Question 38

Some theorists consider political economy theory to be part of

A) reflexive modernity theory
B) critical theory
C) postmodern theory
D) social structural theory
E) functional theory

Question 39

The link between work and retirement has been conceptualized in three major ways based on

A) the problems of economic status in old age
B) the problems of ethnic status in old age
C) the problems of inequality in old age
D) the problems of social status in old age
E) the problems of gender status in old age

Question 40

In the case of retirement, a person's educational attainment influences the nature of his or her occupation and industrial placement to produce a certain level of income-related pension benefits and other types of economic resources. This statement aligns most with which hypothesis?

A) status maintenance
B) status levelling
C) redistribution
D) cumulative disadvantage
E) modernization

Question 41

The status levelling hypothesis

A) smoothes out status differences that developed in the policy process
B) smoothes out status differences that developed at university
C) smoothes out status differences that developed in the family
D) smoothes out status differences that developed in the workplace
E) smoothes out status differences that developed in social relationships

Question 42

Which link to retirement would best explain the circumstances of women?

A) the status maintenance hypothesis
B) the levelling hypothesis
C) the redistribution hypothesis
D) the cumulative disadvantage hypothesis
E) the cumulative maintenance hypothesis

Question 43

What would be one of the factors least likely to affect the timing of retirement?

A) health
B) potential wealth
C) work environment
D) leisure activities
E) family contingencies

Question 44

Who is the most likely to retire early?

A) unmarried men
B) men with lower personal incomes
C) women with lower household incomes
D) men with previous jobs in the state sector
E) women with high personal income

Question 45

In Canada, what is an important reason for early retirement?

A) poor health
B) wealth
C) unemployment
D) caregiving
E) spouse's retirement

Question 46

Who would be most likely to retire early?

A) part-time worker
B) self-employed worker
C) temporary job worker
D) full-time worker
E) non-standard job worker

Question 47

Who would be least likely to have planned for retirement?

A) women
B) younger workers
C) less educated workers
D) workers with jobs high in negative social relations
E) workers with jobs high in intrinsic enjoyment

Question 48

What is the top primary reason for involuntary retirement?

A) unemployment
B) spousal influence
C) poor health
D) child influence
E) mandatory retirement

Question 49

The second phase in the classic stage model of retirement is

A) disenchantment phase
B) stable phase
C) honeymoon phase
D) readjustment phase
E) reorientation phase

Question 50

The two main resources of the retiree known to affect the quality of retirement are

A) family and close friends
B) health and wealth
C) social supports and health
D) social supports and wealth
E) family and health

Question 51

A major problem with the Old Age Pensions Act of 1927 was the means test.

Question 52

Most people who go back to work in Canada take up full-time jobs.

Question 53

The classic stage model of retirement is based on activity theory.

Question 54

We know very little about Canadians' satisfaction with life in retirement.

Question 55

In the case of marital status, marriage is a double-edged sword when it comes to retirement.

Question 56

What is the life course institutionalization hypothesis? How does retirement relate to this hypothesis? When did the institutionalization of retirement as a life phase begin?

Question 57

Discuss the origins of the concept of "mandatory retirement."

Question 58

How did public pensions contribute to the institutionalization of retirement?

Question 59

How is the "new" retirement different from the old retirement and why?

Question 60

Explain how the definition of retirement is dependent on what aspect(s) of retirement researchers are interested in. Use examples to illustrate your answer.

Question 61

How are the "successful aging" and "productive aging" frameworks modern day versions of disengagement, activity and continuity theory?

Question 62

Briefly discuss the nature of the health versus wealth debate, and what the Canadian research suggests about it at present.

Question 63

What is the relationship between work and the timing of retirement?

Question 64

What role has unemployment played in the retirement of Canadians?

Question 65

Identify and briefly describe the key issues involved with the transitional process of retirement. What is the classic stage model of retirement, and how has it been altered more recently?

Question 66

Trace the history of the institutionalization of retirement and how it differed for men and women.

Question 67

What are the main theories explaining retirement? What are the major differences between them? Why do the differences matter?

Question 68

Compare and contrast the three hypotheses explaining the link between work and retirement and why they matter to Canadians.

Question 69

Identify and discuss the major issues in the timing of retirement for Canadians.

Question 70

From the perspective of current research, what are some of the more important issues in making the transition from work to retirement and the retirement experience?