|
Leisure Activities Most middle-aged adults have jobs, spend time at home, are involved in community activities and do things with their family and friends. The only role lost at retirement is gainful employment. Giving up job roles may lower one's self-esteem if a work
ethic was A "busy" ethic in retirement implies the enactment of non-job related productive activities which carry over from earlier life. Housework, household and yard maintenance, volunteer work or community service, family roles, recreation and social activities tend to continue at the same frequency or actually increase. Grandparent roles may actually expand as time becomes available for travel
and visiting. Time is also available for new activities as horizons can expand. Knowledge and skills learned before retirement have carry-over value in late life. Although new knowledge is constantly being generated, formal education and on-the-job training affects competency in various activities during retirement. The pleasures of many life-long sports tend to continue. Lack of skills and low literacy can seriously limit leisure activities.
|
central to one's identity. Many retirees substitute volunteer roles
for their former job role. This justifies leisure activities, protects them
against allegations that they are no longer able to perform and gives definition
to their retirement roles. In retirement, work is defined in terms of effort
toward goals of one's own choosing rather than within the context of the
American economic system.