Thesis

Retirement is supposed to be the payoff for a lifetime of work, but fewer people reach it—or can enjoy it—because modern capitalism pushes longer hours, later retirements, and even working until death. Despite huge gains in technology and productivity, these benefits haven’t translated into more leisure; they’ve been routed into profit.

1) Work, Hours, and Productivity: Then vs. Now

• Historical baseline: Early industrial Britain (18th–19th c.) drove brutal, often 12-hour days—especially for poor women in home-based piecework. The popular story that capitalism “rescued” people from feudal 80-hour weeks is misleading; many medieval peasants actually had more downtime due to the rhythms of agriculture.
• The 8-hour day myth: Even where the 8-hour norm exists on paper, salaried work and unpaid labor erase it. Nurses and medical residents commonly hit 70–80 hours; many workers (e.g., mothers) do large amounts of uncompensated care and housework.
• U.S. hours ticked up: From 1,664 hours/year (1991) to roughly 1,720 (2021)—and that excludes much gig work, which isn’t fully tracked. IRS data suggests +1.2M gig workers (2020) and +1.9M (2021), adding billions of uncounted hours.
• Productivity–pay gap: Since 1979, U.S. productivity rose ~86% while hourly pay rose ~32%. Output per hour is among the world’s highest (≈$81/hr), but the gains haven’t flowed to workers. The failure to shorten the day reflects a weakened labor movement; the hard-won cut from 14 to 8 hours came from past militancy that’s largely absent now.

2) How Modern Retirement Systems Emerged

• Early pioneers: Bismarck’s Germany (1880s) created the first national old-age insurance (initially age 70, lowered to 65).
• United States: The Social Security Act (1935) followed the Great Depression, targeting 65 based on existing norms and plans; it stabilized by the 1940s.
• France: The 1910 law built a contributory pension for ~12M low-income workers/peasants (65, then 60 by 1912).
• Socialist bloc: Used different, more comprehensive models (not detailed here), generally more robust.

3) Today’s Trend: Raising Retirement Ages

Six Western countries—France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, U.S.—cite aging populations and pension finances to justify hikes:

• France: Raised from 62 → 64 (2023) amid mass protests, framing it as necessary to avoid system “collapse.”
• Germany: Facing a projected –6.3M working-age population by 2030; wants to keep people working longer for growth.
• Spain: Deficits led to deep reforms; retirement age → 67 by 2027 and automatic adjustment mechanisms (partly revised in 2021).
• Italy: Points to inflation; uses devices like “long service” pensions (retire after 40 years of contributions regardless of age).
• U.S.: Full benefits age → 67; early claims face permanent reductions.
• UK: Regular reviews; considering 68 to counter labor and fiscal pressures.