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.'
affiliation: 'Finch, N (Corresponding Author), Univ York, Dept Social Policy \& Social
  Work, York YO10 5DD, N Yorkshire, England.

  Univ York, Dept Social Policy \& Social Work, York YO10 5DD, N Yorkshire, England.'
author: Finch, Naomi
author-email: naomi.finch@york.ac.uk
author_list:
- family: Finch
  given: Naomi
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1007/s10433-013-0290-8
eissn: 1613-9380
files: []
issn: 1613-9372
journal: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF AGEING
keywords: 'Work; State pension age; Extending paid work; Gender; Work-life history;

  British Household Panel Survey'
keywords-plus: RETIREMENT; EMPLOYMENT
language: English
month: MAR
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '37'
pages: 31-39
papis_id: 568f89aedd609c47d5a5a8a69f56a348
ref: Finch2014whyare
times-cited: '58'
title: Why are women more likely than men to extend paid work? The impact of work-family
  life history
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000333025300004
usage-count-last-180-days: '3'
usage-count-since-2013: '37'
volume: '11'
web-of-science-categories: Gerontology
year: '2014'