Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

This is a qualitative data collection. This follow-up study is loosely linked to the study Redundancy in Steel : Labour Market Behaviour, Domestic Organisation and Local Networks, 1981-1982 (SN 1637), which looked at the effects of the 1980 redundancy programme of the British Steel Corporation on the local economy of Port Talbot.

Those interviewed in Redundancy in Steel (SN 1637) were offered a redundancy package which differed according to the age of the worker. Those under the age of 55 (born in 1926 or later) were offered significant inducements to find and take on work with other employers. In contrast, those aged 55 or more were given the opposite: an immediate pension and ‘make-up’ money (matching their former wages) which they lost were they to obtain further paid employment.

All 108 men interviewed for the Retirement Through Redundancy (SN 7056) study were aged 55 or more at the time of redundancy. Half of those interviewed had been miners earlier in life and the miners' strike was current when the interviews took place. Respondents were interviewed using an interview schedule which included information transcribed from an earlier interview they took part-in with a Gallop interviewer from the Redundancy in Steel (SN 1637) study. Of the 108 interviews, 45 have been transcribed and are available from the UK Data Archive.


Main Topics:

The main topics included: early retirement; the redundancy process; pension, income and standard of living; disability, ill-health and benefits.