The Aging in Manitoba (AIM) project includes nearly 9,000 seniors who have been interviewed. Three independent cross-sectional samples (i.e. 1971, 1976, 1983) were subsequently followed (1983–1984, 1990), producing cross-sectional and longitudinal data. A major goal of this paper was to examine non-response over time and representativeness of the panel of AIM survivors. This involved analysis of non-response, calculations of completion/response rates, and comparisons of demographic variables across the AIM sample and the broader Manitoba and Canadian populations. Non-response was very low (4.6% in 1983–1984, 5.0% in 1990) and did not appear to be dependent on such factors as location, gender, education level, or nationality descent. The 95.0 per cent completion rate compares favourably with other longitudinal studies, demonstrating the value of employing rigorous tracking procedures. These findings suggest that attempts to minimize bias and selective attrition in the AIM study have been successful.

The move towards early retirement as witnessed over the last few years in Europe comes from social assistance mechanisms, other than old age security and is not due to a simple earlier retirement age.

Two systems have been used primarily to help older workers. These are disability and employment insurance. “Early retirement” mechanisms have also helped these active or unemployed workers retire, by means of allocating resources.

The social security structure in European countries has remained essentially unchanged with the risks and logistics of management inextricably intertwined. Moreover, these new forms of transition between activity and retirement reveal the reorganization underway in all matters related to the aging workers. One of the implications of the massive movement towards early retirement has been that the tripartite life course in which important social stages within the life course are marked by milestones (e.g., school age, retirement age …) is disappearing. It is gradually being replaced with new flexibility for managing the end of the life course. This type of evolution requires us to rethink the social assistance system in the sense of reducing the distinct ternary division in the life course. From this perspective, the very concepts of retirement and social transfers for definitive inactivity are no longer relevant.

Explanatory frameworks in social gerontology often appear to represent variations on a theme. Regardless of subtype, linearity, ordinality, and universality are customarily assumed. This discussion advocates for an alternative model, an exploration of the utility of a new, transformative logic associated with chaos theory and related perspectives. As a metaphor, chaos theory can help gerontologists address contextualized change and non-linear dimensions of human aging processes.

As community services replace institutional beds, clients must be ensured ready access to nursing home care when truly required. This study explores predictors of waiting time for nursing home admission in a typical voluntary single-entry system in Saskatchewan. The study examined a district-wide cohort of 777 clients awaiting a first nursing home admission over two years in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Median waiting time was 107 days. In multivariate time-to-event analysis, independently assessed priority status predicted a three times greater rate of admission. Living alone, living in seniors housing attached to a nursing home, and being ambulatory only with assistance also shortened waiting time. Co-operation problems increased waiting time. The study shows that in a voluntary single-entry system, admission is not solely by priority status.