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Myth of the Industrial Scrap Heap: A Revisionist View of Turn-of-the-Century American Retirement

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  • Carter, Susan B.
  • Sutch, Richard

Abstract

Using the census survival method to calculate net flows across employment states between 1900 and 1910, we find that approximately one-fifth of all men who reached the age of 55 eventually retired before death. Many of these retirees appear to have planned their withdrawal from paid employment by accumulating assets, becoming self-employed, and then liquidating their assets to provide a stream of income to finance consumption in old age. This “modern” retirement behavior has important implications for the economic history of capital and labor markets, of saving and investment, of insurance and pensions, and of the family economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Carter, Susan B. & Sutch, Richard, 1996. "Myth of the Industrial Scrap Heap: A Revisionist View of Turn-of-the-Century American Retirement," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(1), pages 5-38, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:56:y:1996:i:01:p:5-38_01
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    Cited by:

    1. Yongseok Shin & Ananth Seshadri & Rody Manuelli, 2012. "Lifetime Labor Supply and Human Capital Investment," 2012 Meeting Papers 946, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    2. Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan & David Weil, 2010. "Mortality change, the uncertainty effect, and retirement," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 65-91, March.
    3. Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan & David Weil, 2010. "Mortality change, the uncertainty effect, and retirement," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 65-91, March.
    4. C. Lee, 1998. "Life Cycle Savings in the United States, 1900-1990," CPE working papers 0014, University of Chicago - Centre for Population Economics.
    5. Di Matteo, Livio & Herbert Emery, J. C., 2002. "Wealth and the demand for life insurance: evidence from Ontario, 1892," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 446-469, October.
    6. Jeffrey A. Miron & David N. Weil, 1998. "The Genesis and Evolution of Social Security," NBER Chapters, in: The Defining Moment: The Great Depression and the American Economy in the Twentieth Century, pages 297-322, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Chulhee Lee, 2009. "Technological Changes and Employment of Older Manufacturing Workers in Early Twentieth Century America," NBER Working Papers 14746, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Lee, Chulhee, 1999. "Farm Value and Retirement of Farm Owners in Early-Twentieth-Century America," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 387-408, October.
    9. John A. James & Michael G. Palumbo & Mark Thomas, 2007. "Consumption smoothing among working-class American families before social insurance," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 59(4), pages 606-640, October.
    10. Alan De Bromhead & Karol Jan Borowiecki, 2016. "Immigration and the demand for life insurance: evidence from Canada, 1911," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 20(2), pages 147-175.
    11. Chulhee Lee, 2007. "Long-Term Changes in the Economic Activity of Older Males in Korea," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(1), pages 99-123, October.
    12. Lee, Chulhee, 2002. "Sectoral Shift And The Labor-Force Participation Of Older Males In The United States, 1880 1940," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 62(02), pages 512-523, June.
    13. Roberto Pedace, 2006. "Immigration, Labor Market Mobility, and the Earnings of Native‐Born Workers," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(2), pages 313-345, April.
    14. Roger L. Ransom & Richard Sutch, 2000. "One Kind of Freedom: Reconsidered (and Turbo Charged)," NBER Historical Working Papers 0129, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Chulhee Lee, 2008. "Retirement Expectations of Older Self-Employed Workers in Korea: Comparison with Wage and Salary Workers," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 24, pages 33-71.
    16. Ransom, Roger L. & Sutch, Richard, 2001. "One Kind of Freedom: Reconsidered (and Turbo Charged)," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 6-39, January.
    17. Livio Di Matteo, 2008. "Wealth accumulation motives: evidence from the probate records of Ontario, 1892 and 1902," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 2(2), pages 143-171, July.

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