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Worklife Determinants of Retirement Income Differentials Between Men and Women

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Author Info
Phillip J. Levine
Olivia S. Mitchell
John W. Phillips

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Abstract

Women enter retirement having spent fewer years in market work, earned less over their lifetimes, and worked 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 up with lower levels of retirement income in old age. We use the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), which provides 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 nonmarried 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.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 7243.

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Date of creation: Jul 1999
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:7243

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies
J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Olivia S. Mitchell & James F. Moore, . "Retirement Wealth Accumulation and Decumulation: New Developments and Outstanding Opportunities," Pension Research Council Working Papers 97-8, Wharton School Pension Research Council, University of Pennsylvania.
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  2. Olivia S. Mitchell & James Moore & John Phillips, . "Explaining Retirement Saving Shortfalls," Pension Research Council Working Papers 98-13, Wharton School Pension Research Council, University of Pennsylvania.
  3. Blau, Francine D & Kahn, Lawrence M, 1997. "Swimming Upstream: Trends in the Gender Wage Differential in 1980s," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(1), pages 1-42, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Michael J. Boskin & John B. Shoven, 1988. "Poverty among the Elderly: Where are the Holes in the Safety Net?," NBER Chapters, in: Pensions in the U.S. Economy, pages 115-138 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  5. Blau, Francine D & Graham, John W, 1990. "Black-White Differences in Wealth and Asset Composition," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 105(2), pages 321-39, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Debra Sabatini Dwyer & Olivia S. Mitchell, 1998. "Health Problems as Determinants of Retirement: Are Self-Rated Measures Endogenous?," NBER Working Papers 6503, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Blau, Francine D & Ferber, Marianne A, 1987. "Discrimination: Empirical Evidence from the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(2), pages 316-20, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Phillip B. Levine & Olivia S. Mitchell & James F. Moore, . "Women on the Verge of Retirement: Predictors of Retiree Well-being," Pension Research Council Working Papers 97-2, Wharton School Pension Research Council, University of Pennsylvania.
  9. James F. Moore & Olivia S. Mitchell, . "Projected Retirement Wealth and Saving Adequacy," Pension Research Council Working Papers 98-1, Wharton School Pension Research Council, University of Pennsylvania.
  10. Macpherson, David A & Hirsch, Barry T, 1995. "Wages and Gender Composition: Why Do Women's Jobs Pay Less?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(3), pages 426-71, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Alan L. Gustman & Olivia S. Mitchell & Andrew A. Samwick & Thomas L. Steinmeier, . "Pension and Social Security Wealth in the Health and Retirement Study," Pension Research Council Working Papers 97-3, Wharton School Pension Research Council, University of Pennsylvania.
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  13. Richard V. Burkhauser & J. S. Butler & James T. Wilkinson, 1985. "Estimating Changes in Well-Being Across Life: A Realized vs. Comprehensive Income Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Horizontal Equity, Uncertainty, and Economic Well-Being, pages 69-90 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  14. Gunderson, Morley, 1989. "Male-Female Wage Differentials and Policy Responses," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 27(1), pages 46-72, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Johnson, George & Solon, Gary, 1986. "Estimates of the Direct Effects of Comparable Worth Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 1117-25, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Phillip B. Levine & Olivia S. Mitchell & John W. Phillips, . "A Benefit of One's Own: Older Women's Retirement Entitlements Under Social Security," Pension Research Council Working Papers 2000-5, Wharton School Pension Research Council, University of Pennsylvania. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Brian S. Armour & M. Melinda Pitts, 2002. "Incorporating insurance rate estimates and differential mortality into net marginal Social Security tax rate calculations," Working Paper 2002-29, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. [Downloadable!]
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