The neologism pre-tirement describes the emergence of a new working state, positioned between the traditional states of
employment
Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...
and
retirement
Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload.
Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
.
The word is a
portmanteau
In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together. word, coming from the prefix "pre" and the word "retirement." The state is being found primarily in first world
economies
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with ...
, with
aging populations. A "pre-tiree" will continue to create economic
wealth
Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an ...
and/or contribute to the generation of knowledge, likely on a part-time or reduced hours basis. Some "pre-tirees" use the period to give back by providing unpaid social support. This form of
unpaid work creates economic benefit, by allowing
tax
A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...
es to be focused on other wealth creating or protecting activities but relies on the existence of sufficient financial resource.
Usage
* Used in a book title by Kris Miller (2012), though her usage describes planning for retirement, rather than an emerging state of employment.
* The ACAS website referred the important shift in retirement norms observed in the Zopa Report: "many people are choosing to ease into retirement in a 'phased or gradual process'.
* Use of the neologism in news publications peaked after the publication of the Zopa Report.
References
{{Reflist
Neologisms
Retirement
Termination of employment