Quaderni IRCrES 23 – Cap.5

Capitolo 5
Trasmissione intergenerazionale e transizione dal lavoro al pensionamento

Intergenerational transmission and transition from work to retirement

 

Donatella Bramanti, Sara Nanetti

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Fra Agostino Gemelli, 1, 20123 Milano, Italia

corresponding author: sara.nanetti@unicatt.it

 

Abstract

In this contribution, the authors will discuss the transition from work to retirement as a pivotal phase in the lives of senior workers, influenced by various individual, familial, and social factors. This study aims to thoroughly examine the dynamics that characterize this transition, with a specific focus on the significant role played by intergenerational transmission in retirement decisions. The primary research question revolves around the impact of intergenerational transmission in both anticipating the exit from the labor market through professional succession and retaining senior workers as experts and mentors. To delve deeply into this theme, 62 intergenerational dyadic interviews were conducted, involving elderly individuals aged 75 or older and their respective younger reference persons. The analysis focused on understanding various aspects, including the significance of work for the elderly, the factors that lead to labor market exit, the diverse retirement trajectories, and the effect of significant life events on retirement choices. This life course-based perspective provided a retrospective view of the subjects’ retirement experiences, emphasizing the importance of past life events in shaping retirement decisions. The results of the life story analysis reveal a complex and multidimensional transition to retirement. Various forms of work and retirement emerge, reflecting the flexibility of work and transition experiences in modern society. The analysis highlights key factors influencing retirement decisions, including economic support, family bonding, aging perception, intergenerational transmission, quality of professional relationships, labor market changes, work’s intrinsic value, and engagement in voluntary activities. Particularly, intergenerational transmission emerges as a dual lever, influencing both labor market exit through professional succession and retaining senior workers as experts and mentors. In summary, the multidimensional analysis of retirement choices underscores the pivotal role of intergenerational transmission, which complexly and ambivalently influences the transition from work to retirement. These findings provide a comprehensive overview of the dynamics involved in this critical phase of senior workers’ lives, with significant implications for policies and corporate practices. Based on the results obtained from the retrospective analysis, interviews and focus groups will be conducted to understand the perspectives on retirement of senior workers (over 55), with the aim of identifying which retrospective and prospective factors have the greatest impact on the perception of individual, family, and social well-being.

Keywords: retirement transition, older workers, intergenerational network.

DOI: 10.23760/2499-6661.2025.23.05

ISBN: 978-88-98193-38-7

ISSN (online): 2499-6661

 

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How to Cite

Bramanti, D., & Nanetti, S. (2025). Trasmissione intergenerazionale e transizione dal lavoro al pensionamento. In Bramanti, D., Errichiello, L., Falavigna, G., & Nanetti, S. (cur.). Verso un invecchiamento attivo, in salute e sostenibile. Riflessioni teoriche ed evidenze empiriche sul bilanciamento tra lavoro e vita privata (pp. 103-115). Quaderni IRCrES 23. CNR-IRCrES. http://dx.doi.org/10.23760/2499-6661.2025.23.05