Linked Transitions in Later Life – Retiring as Transitional Assemblage in the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic challenges expectations of retirement. In this paper, we ask: How is the retirement transition experienced in the everyday lives of older adults during pandemic as compared to pre-pandemic times? The paper draws on 15 semi-structured interviews with adults aged 60–75 years living in Germany within the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, which were analyzed based on social constructivist Grounded Theory and Situational Analysis. We identified four themes: (1) general retiring experiences; (2) changes in the everyday lives following the retirement transition; (3) changes in their social life and (4) subjective wellbeing. The findings suggest that both retirement and the COVID-19 pandemic entail significant changes to older adults’ experience. Results show that experiences of both groups are similar but vary in degree. Adults retiring in pandemic times feel like missing out on the retirement life. We conclude by outlining a relational perspective on retirement research.