Life courses and ends of career: Towards de-standardization? An analysis of the Belgian case

For decades, scientists have alerted the authorities about the aging population and its socioeconomic consequences. Number of work carried out in sociology fit within the paradigm of the Life Course. These describe an evolution in two stages since the 19th century. In this article, we focus on the second phase characterized by a double process of de-standardization and de-institutionalization. From the example of ends of career, this article attempts to test the hypothesis of a de-standardization of age at the end of the labor market in Belgium. De-standardization involves increasing the diversity of situations. Statistically, this process should lead to an increase in variance around the average. This analysis is conducted using retrospective data for the cohorts born between 1905 and 1935, those ending their career between 1965 and 2001.