In fact, retirement as we know it today is a very new human experience, as it was started in Prussia (Germany) in 1881 and it provided for citizens over 70, which was around the average life expectancy anyway, so many didn't get anything out of it.
The word retirement comes from the Latin word jubilare, with a Hebrew influence, meaning “to shout for joy “. This is why people sometimes refer to retirement as the golden age. The origin of the right to a retirement pension comes from ancient Rome.
Prior to the existence of pension benefits, the Romans created rules for the protection of the elderly in order to achieve a dignified retirement. One of these laws was the Law of the stork (Lex cionaria). According to this law, children were obliged to take care of their parents or elderly ascendant. The Lex cionaria, was inspired by storks, which, when they become adults and fend for themselves, take care of their elderly parents, protecting them and providing them with food.
In this context, history has recorded and recorded the evolution of what it means to us today to be a pensioner and at what age we should retire. The very nature of human beings, without any law being involved, determines the key moment when we must give up an activity, or change it for a less demanding one. By nature, we are stubborn and do not want to give up, because that would be a sign of weakness.
Retirement is closely linked to responsibility and capabilities. Even so, depending on where you are geographically and who is with you, retirement is not easy. I know elderly people over 70 who sell sweets, cigarettes, …, on the streets to supplement their pensions and make ends meet. And I know other younger people, in first class countries, who retired at 60, live very well on the pension they receive.
Things are NOT the same in different latitudes, despite the fact that we are all passengers on this great planet that shelters us. Thus, conformism while waiting to disembark is the universal pattern for the majority.
Supposedly:
It wasn't universal or for the elderly.
I don't know about the rules of protection for the elderly, but that is likely a thing, where people were obliged to take care of their parents. There was probably a fair amount that broke the law :D
And a healthy society is built to facilitate people to add value whatever their level, but add value, not only extract.
This depends on the country and what they did prior to 60 I think. Most countries don't pay much in basic retirement, which is why there are so many issues with elderly not being able to take care of themselves financially.
Yet funnily, people still want equality of result, regardless of the differences in the very people themselves.