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The relationship between women’s work histories and incomes in later life in the UK, US and West Germany

The relationship between women’s work histories and incomes in later life in the UK, US and West Germany
The relationship between women’s work histories and incomes in later life in the UK, US and West Germany
Using data from several large-scale longitudinal surveys, this article investigates the relationship between the work histories and personal incomes (from both public and private sources) of older women in the UK, US and West Germany. By comparing three countries with different welfare regimes and pension systems, we seek to gain a better understanding of the interaction between the life course, pension system and women’s incomes in later life. The association between older women’s incomes and work histories is strongest in West Germany and weakest in the UK, where there is evidence of a ‘pensions poverty trap’ and where only predominantly full-time employment is associated with significantly higher incomes in later life. Work history matters less for widows (in all three countries) and more for recent birth cohorts and more educated women (UK only). The article concludes with a brief discussion of the treatment of women under different pension regimes assessed by the criteria of adequacy, proportionality, vertical equity and horizontal equity.
0958-9287
20-36
Sefton, Tom
4d818b7d-72e0-402f-8229-51b68549099d
Evandrou, Maria
cd2210ea-9625-44d7-b0f4-fc0721a25d28
Falkingham, Jane
8df36615-1547-4a6d-ad55-aa9496e85519
Vlachantoni, Athina
06a52fbb-f2a0-4c81-9fbc-d6efc736c6cb
Sefton, Tom
4d818b7d-72e0-402f-8229-51b68549099d
Evandrou, Maria
cd2210ea-9625-44d7-b0f4-fc0721a25d28
Falkingham, Jane
8df36615-1547-4a6d-ad55-aa9496e85519
Vlachantoni, Athina
06a52fbb-f2a0-4c81-9fbc-d6efc736c6cb

Sefton, Tom, Evandrou, Maria, Falkingham, Jane and Vlachantoni, Athina (2011) The relationship between women’s work histories and incomes in later life in the UK, US and West Germany. Journal of European Social Policy, 21 (1), 20-36. (doi:10.1177/0958928710380475).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Using data from several large-scale longitudinal surveys, this article investigates the relationship between the work histories and personal incomes (from both public and private sources) of older women in the UK, US and West Germany. By comparing three countries with different welfare regimes and pension systems, we seek to gain a better understanding of the interaction between the life course, pension system and women’s incomes in later life. The association between older women’s incomes and work histories is strongest in West Germany and weakest in the UK, where there is evidence of a ‘pensions poverty trap’ and where only predominantly full-time employment is associated with significantly higher incomes in later life. Work history matters less for widows (in all three countries) and more for recent birth cohorts and more educated women (UK only). The article concludes with a brief discussion of the treatment of women under different pension regimes assessed by the criteria of adequacy, proportionality, vertical equity and horizontal equity.

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More information

Published date: 23 March 2011
Organisations: Social Statistics

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 182857
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/182857
ISSN: 0958-9287
PURE UUID: 47ae1a6f-7b18-4c63-9c1a-2cab4534bfa8
ORCID for Maria Evandrou: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2115-9358
ORCID for Jane Falkingham: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7135-5875
ORCID for Athina Vlachantoni: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1539-3057

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Date deposited: 24 Apr 2011 17:15
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:29

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Contributors

Author: Tom Sefton
Author: Maria Evandrou ORCID iD
Author: Jane Falkingham ORCID iD

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