Now, in some countries, they are better off than the working-aged population. Having lived through half a century of growing prosperity to enjoy generous pensions, they have the public and private means to enjoy life. The answer seems likely to emerge first in the United States. There, the flight of older men from the job market seems to have stopped since the mid-1980s. Indeed, a higher proportion of men aged 62 or over are in the job market now than in 1985.
Nobody yet knows, however, whether the halt is permanent or merely a pause.
The case for the pause is put by Ms Costa. Early retirement, she points out, is not just a recent trend, driven by taxes and benefits. In the early years of this century, a small rise in pension entitlement relative to pay produced a large rise in retirement. As the century went by, the lure of a bigger pension dwindled. If incomes continue to rise as economic growth progresses and if leisure-time activities continue to be relatively inexpensive and enticing, then the rise of retirement is unlikely to reverse.