abstract: 'The increase in pension eligibility ages in Australia, as elsewhere,

  throws into relief the consequences of gender inequality in employment.

  Because of career histories in lower paid and more insecure employment,

  a higher percentage of women than men are dependent on the age pension

  rather than on superannuation or savings and investments, and so will be

  disproportionately affected by deferred access. Yet, fewer women than

  men hold the types of good jobs'' that will sustain them into an older

  age. Women are more likely to be sequestered in precarious employment,

  with reduced job quality and a greater potential for premature workforce

  exit. This article counterposes macro-level data drawn from national

  cross-sectional labour force statistics and the longitudinal Household

  Income and Labour Dynamics Australia survey, with case study analysis,

  based on interviews with 38 women in midlife insecure jobs, in order to

  identify the types of life course and labour market barriers that

  contribute to women''s reliance on the pension and the systemic

  disadvantage that will render them particularly vulnerable to any

  further erosion of this safety net. The analysis moves between this

  empirical evidence and a discussion, drawing on the theoretical

  literature, of the failure in equal opportunity endeavours over recent

  decades and what this means for later life workforce participation for

  women. JEL Codes: D91, J16, J71, J88'
affiliation: Sheen, V (Corresponding Author), 4 Robbins, Seabrook, Vic 3028, Australia.
author: Sheen, Veronica
author-email: veronicasheen@fastmail.net
author_list:
- family: Sheen
  given: Veronica
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1177/1035304617690095
eissn: 1838-2673
files: []
issn: 1035-3046
journal: ECONOMIC AND LABOUR RELATIONS REVIEW
keywords: 'Economic insecurity; gender; income inequality; low-paid work;

  occupational segregation; older women; pension age; precarious

  employment; retirement income; superannuation'
keywords-plus: GENDER; VARIETIES
language: English
month: MAR
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '60'
pages: 3-19
papis_id: 57cafa7af062079e0215f548b045c691
ref: Sheen2017implicationsaustrali
times-cited: '7'
title: The implications of Australian women's precarious employment for the later
  pension age
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000395351400001
usage-count-last-180-days: '1'
usage-count-since-2013: '15'
volume: '28'
web-of-science-categories: Economics; Industrial Relations \& Labor
year: '2017'