Abstract
The demographic change and its challenges have brought older workers more into focus and there is an ongoing debate on extending working lives. In Germany, many women are taking over most of the care work but at the same time, they are also required to participate in the labour force. The latest data confirm this trend, in particular in the older age groups. Nevertheless, care work in particular leads to interruptions in working life and increases the risk of old age poverty, i.e. working lives are still genderd. Therefore, knowledge about their experiences in late working life is needed. The study addresses this topic and delivers insights on current work situations of older female workers in Germany from a life course perspective and their perception of their employment-related future. Twenty semi-structured interviews with women from different backgrounds were conducted in 2021/22 within the research programme “Exclusion and Inequality in Late Working Life” (EIWO) (FORTE, dnr. 2019-01245). The material was analysed using qualitative content analysis. The results show that women find themselves in different work situations in late working life, depending on whether they needed to reconcile family and work during (earlier) phases in working life or not. Single parenthood, in particular, leads to financial needs in late working life. Additionally, experiences of gender discrimination as well as ageism can be observed. For their future working life, women appreciate, among others, flexible working arrangements. However, in order to reduce inequalities persisting gender and age stereotypes need to be dismantled.
Presenters
Nehle PenningPhD Student and Research Associate, Social Sciences, TU Dortmund University, Germany
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Economic and Demographic Perspectives on Aging
KEYWORDS
Late Working Life, Gender, Inequalities, Life Course, Qualitative Research
