Coping with retirement: a comparitive study among retired dockworkers and retired nurses

ABSTRACT

Populations across the world are ageing in terms of life after age 60 and the section of the population referred to as the elderly is growing at a rapid rate. This study seeks to examine the strategies adopted for coping with the phenomena of retirement among a sample of retired dockworkers and retired nurses; and to compare the findings of the two groups. The population comprised of 62 dockworkers between the ages 65 years to over 75 years from urban and rural areas. Overall they were relatively healthy. The chronic diseases suffered in this population was arthritis, hypertension and diabetes as the leading three. The study substantiated the view that pensioners were the ones who felt the pressures of inflation because they were not productive employees and that the money needed to purchase necessary foods was never enough since they needed to purchase at the same prices as the rest of the population; hence the importance for persons to begin preparing for retirement long ahead of the scheduled time. It is therefore necessary for employers to take the initiative and introduce seminars which will inform their employees as to retirement plans that will enable them to invest wisely during their working life and so earn from those investments during retirement. This study is part of a comparative study done simultaneously with one done among retired nurses by fellow Masters in Public Health student Marjorie Ming. (AU)