Worklife Determinants of Retirement Income Differentials Between Men and Women

TitleWorklife Determinants of Retirement Income Differentials Between Men and Women
Publication TypeBook Chapter
Year of Publication2002
AuthorsLevine, PB, Mitchell, OS, Phillips, JWR
EditorBodie, Z, Hammond, B, Mitchell, OS
Book TitleInnovations in Financing Retirement
Pagination50-76
PublisherUniversity of Pennsylvania Press
CityPhiladelphia, PA
Call Numberwp_1999/Levine_etal.pdf
KeywordsIncome, Methodology, Retirement Planning and Satisfaction, Women and Minorities
Abstract

Women enter retirement having spent fewer years in market, earned less over their lifetimes, and work in different jobs than men of the same age. This study examines whether these differences in work life experiences help explain why many women end with lower level of retirement income in old age. We use Health and Retirement Study (HRS), which provide information on labor market histories along with the ability to predict retirement income from employer pensions, social security benefits, and investment returns. We document differences in anticipated retirement income by sex that exist largely between non-married men and women. Multivariate models show that 85 percent of this retirement income gap can be attributed to differences in lifetime labor market earnings, years worked, and occupational segregation by sex. Our results suggest that as women's work life experiences become more congruent with men's over time, the gap in retirement income between men and women may shrink.

Notes

RDA ProCite field 6 : In ProCite field 8 : eds.

URLhttp://www.nber.org/papers/w7243
Endnote Keywords

Economics of Gender/Retirement/Retirement Policies/Retirement Incomes/Income by Sex/Women

Endnote ID

1126

Endnote Author Address

National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 7243. Copies available from: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138. (See also PRC Working Paper; http://prc.wharton.upenn.edu/prc/99-19.PDF)

Short TitleWorklife Determinants of Retirement Income Differentials Between Men and Women
Citation Key5134