Uniformity and Diversity: Life Course Institutionalization and Late-Life Work Exit

Abstract

Recent research and theory argue that regulation of the life course, whether by state regulation, workplace dynamics, or economic and social trends, makes the life course more institutionally-dependent and uniform in timing. This article develops a more precise conceptualization of uniformity of life course transitions, distinguishing two facets: universality in event occurrence and variability in event timing. This distinction is unclear in many discussions of the topic, and separating the two elements reveals the complexity of the relation between social structural change and uniformity. The distinction is illustrated with U.S. data on recent trends in late-life labor force exit that show an increase in the proportion of those who exit by any age (i.e., universality), but a complex pattern of change in variability, indicating a tendency toward greater individuation.