ILPC 2027

The political economy of  pension issues is highly gendered but current approaches often assume gender neutrality.  At these ages, 55-64, it is often assumed that women and men no longer have family responsibilities; thus gender differences are analyzed in terms of discrimination, labour market segmentation as well as overall earning disparities.   Older women, however, typically have responsibility for parent care, a responsibility which is growing rapidly with population aging.  At the same time European Union (EU) labour policies are encouraging older women to stay engaged in the labour market under proposals to reduce their access to early retirement schemes. 

The impact of these policies will be dramatically different under different welfare regimes.  The Nordic states already have relatively high employment rates for older women (Sweden 66.7%; Finland 56, Denmark 50.9%) but these welfare states have also provided for help with caring for elderly parents.  In the Mediterrean states women’s employment at older ages is quite low but the overwhelming responsibility for elderly family members falls on the women.  In the Mediterranean states the family has a legal responsibility to provide care.  

This paper reviews the employment rates for women age 55-64 in the 15 original EU countries using the most recent Eurostat data.  The context is the availability of support available to older women for elder care under the different welfare regimes. Of critical importance in aging societies is the unpaid work of caregiving for the very old who need assistance in activities of daily living. Daughters and daughters-in-law overwhelmingly take on this role and this unpaid work needs to be recognized in current efforts to reduce public spending on pensions as well as other benefits, such as unemployment, which are currently supporting caregivers. 

            In addition to the differences between countries, there is an important difference within each country by education.  In all 15 EU countries in 2009 educated women have already exceeded the EU short-term employment goal of 40% employment for ages 55-64; only in Belgium and Greece does the rate fall below 50% for women with a tertiary education.   Employment rates for older women with a high education are as high in Spain, a Mediterranean country, as in the UK, a liberal welfare state.  These are the women, however, who are most likely to have the resources to pay for care of their elderly family member. The burden of fiscal reforms is most likely to fall on older women with low education who are already in precarious labour market situations.  Raising the retirement age and limiting the availability of unemployment insurance will bear hardest on these women; they are likely to be the most vulnerable to “flexploitation” in current labour markets.  And it is their elderly parents and parents-in-law who will be at risk of not obtaining the care they need.