Working pensioners in Germany and the UK: quantitative and qualitative evidence on gender, marital status, and the reasons for working

Abstract

Taking paid work among men and women beyond pension age as an example, the contribution examines the interrelationship between life courses, gendered welfare regimes, and later-life employment outcomes. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, the article focuses on the role of inequalities, gender and marital status for working despite receiving a pension, and on the subjective reasons for this employment. The quantitative analyses are based on the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and the German Ageing Survey (DEAS), and the qualitative evidence on semi-structured interviews with working pensioners in Germany and the UK. Gender differences in working can be traced back in part to differences in educational qualification and in pre-retirement class. Although no general gender differences in the reasons for paid employment can be found, financial reasons are mentioned much more often by divorced women in Germany and widowed women in the UK than by men and by married women. The qualitative data underlines the special role earned income plays for divorced women and, more generally, the variety of reasons which motivate pensioners to work for pay. Furthermore, pension age is less meaningful for mothers because of their patchier careers. All in all, (poor) labour market chances and household dynamics in old age are interrelated in gendered patterns of old age employment, and accompanied by specific interpretations of this work.