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 paper investigates the relationship between older women’s personal incomes and their work histories in the UK, US and West Germany. By comparing three countries with very different welfare regimes, 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, after controlling for other socio-economic characteristics. Work history matters less for widows (in all three countries) and more for younger birth cohorts and more educated women (UK only). We conclude with a brief discussion of the ‘women-friendliness’ of different pension regimes in the light of our analysis.
Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, London School or Economics
Sefton, Tom
4d818b7d-72e0-402f-8229-51b68549099d
Falkingham, Jane
8df36615-1547-4a6d-ad55-aa9496e85519
Evandrou, Maria
cd2210ea-9625-44d7-b0f4-fc0721a25d28
June 2009
Sefton, Tom
4d818b7d-72e0-402f-8229-51b68549099d
Falkingham, Jane
8df36615-1547-4a6d-ad55-aa9496e85519
Evandrou, Maria
cd2210ea-9625-44d7-b0f4-fc0721a25d28
Sefton, Tom, Falkingham, Jane and Evandrou, Maria
(2009)
The relationship between women’s work histories and incomes in later life in the UK, US and West Germany
(CASE, 137)
London, GB.
Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, London School or Economics
27pp.
Record type:
Monograph
(Discussion Paper)
Abstract
Using data from several large scale longitudinal surveys, this paper investigates the relationship between older women’s personal incomes and their work histories in the UK, US and West Germany. By comparing three countries with very different welfare regimes, 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, after controlling for other socio-economic characteristics. Work history matters less for widows (in all three countries) and more for younger birth cohorts and more educated women (UK only). We conclude with a brief discussion of the ‘women-friendliness’ of different pension regimes in the light of our analysis.
Text
CASEpaper137 Sefton Falkingham Evandrou final.doc
- Author's Original
More information
Published date: June 2009
Organisations:
Gerontology
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 400096
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/400096
PURE UUID: 2f819891-6c3f-4f63-a235-adef1eb2ff66
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 13 Sep 2016 15:50
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:24
Export record
Contributors
Author:
Tom Sefton
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
