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Cited by 101Retirement, Disability, and EmploymentGender, Labor, and Family DynamicsFinancial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis

Why are women more likely than men to extend paid work? The impact of work–family life history

Open access
Finch, Naomi·2014·European Journal of Ageing
DOI 10.1007/s10433-013-0290-8PMC PMC5549191
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Abstract

Extending working life beyond the state pension age is a key European Union policy. In the UK, women are more likely to extend paid work than men, indicating that factors other than the state pension age play a role in working longer. Women are less able to build pension income due to their role as carer within the family. It, therefore, follows that gender inequalities over the life course continue into older age to influence need, capacity and desire to undertake paid work after state pension age. This paper explores how work, marital and fertility history impact upon the likelihood of extending employment. It uses the British Household Panel Survey's retrospective data from the first 14 waves to summarise work-family histories, and logistic regression to understand the impact of work and family histories on extending paid work. Findings show that, on the one hand, women are extending paid work for financial reasons to make up for 'opportunity costs' as a result of their caring role within the family, with short breaks due to caring, lengthy marriages, divorcing and remaining single with children all being important. Yet, there is also evidence of 'status maintenance' from working life, with the women most likely to extend paid work, also those with the highest work orientation, prior to state pension age. But lengthy dis-attachment (due to caring) from the labour market makes extending working life more difficult. This has implications for policy strategies to entice women into paid work to make up for low independent financial resources.

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  • Sustaining aging workers is expected to reduce demand for spending on seniors-related programs such as health care and pensions.

    “Sustaining aging workers in the workplace is expected to reduce demand for spending on seniors-related programs such as health care spending and pension (Carmichael & Ercolani, 2015; Finch, 2014).”

    From Policy Initiatives to Address the Challenges of an Older Population in the Workforce (2023) · cites this paper as Finch, 2014

    The Introduction (page unavailable) says extending working life is an EU policy response to population ageing and pressure on pension systems. It does not say that retaining older workers will reduce pension spending, and it does not address health-care spending. The claim therefore goes beyond the support this paper provides. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Brown R (1998) Retirement: a multiphased transition, conference paper presented at the retirement need framework symposium. http://www.soa.org/news-and-publications/publications/other- publications/monographs/m-rs00-1-toc.aspx. Accessed 18 June 2013

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Authors
Finch, N.
Affiliations
University of York (GB)
Corresponding author
Finch, Naomi
ORCID
Finch, Naomi
Venue
European Journal of Ageing
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2013-09-18
Volume
11
Issue
1
Pages
31-39
ISSN
  • 1613-9372 (ISSN-L)
  • 1613-9380
DOI
10.1007/s10433-013-0290-8
PMC
PMC5549191
OpenAlex
W2088907860
Cited by
101
References
32
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 1
FWCI
12.55
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations
  • European Journal of Ageing (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Economic and Social Research Council (ES/F002033/1)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Retirement, Disability, and Employment
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Accounting › Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis
Keywords
working life extension, older women, state pension age, gender inequality, caregiving, opportunity cost, status maintenance, work orientation, marital status, divorce, fertility, retirement income

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