Dworkin: Retirement and the social contract – “In 1941, three percent of American men preferred leisure to work; by 1982, that number had shot up to 48 percent…When Social Security was passed in 1935, life expectancy was only 62 — three years less than when the benefit kicked in. In addition, the benefit was too small for most people to live on. When Medicare was passed in 1965, life expectancy was 70; thus, recipients were expected, on average, to receive benefits for only five years. The original intention behind these two pieces of legislation was not to help people escape the division of labor for twenty years, but to make life just a little less hard.”

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