Narrative agency in retirement interviews: a qualitative longitudinal study

Purpose: The outspoken aim of extending working lives faces the challenge of strong retirement age norms. This paper explores how older postal workers exercise their agency when narrating their retirement experiences and discusses implications for societal goals to extend working lives. Methods: Utilizing the tools of qualitative longitudinal analysis and narrative agency, we analyzed thematic interviews with three representative cases from a population of 20 former Finnish postal workers. Results: The three cases demonstrated narrative agency by A) questioning dominant social norms regarding unemployment and personal value, B) grappling with unexpected changes to life in retirement, and C) narrating changes to work and one’s own focus in life, paired with a freedom to choose one’s activities. Conclusion: Updating negative dominant societal narratives about aging and work is pertinent in the endeavor to extend working lives. Retirement is a “space of the possible.” Developing workplaces into such spaces through increased structural flexibility could improve the image of aging at work.