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Gender, age and flexible working in later life

Author

Listed:
  • Wendy Loretto

    (University of Edinburgh Business School, UK)

  • Sarah Vickerstaff

    (School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent, UK)

Abstract

In many countries economic and social concerns associated with ageing populations have focused attention onto flexible forms of working as key to encouraging people to work longer and delay retirement. This article argues that there has been a remarkable lack of attention paid to the role of gender in extending working lives and contends that this gap has arisen because of two, inter-related, oversights: little consideration of relationships between gender and flexible working beyond the child-caring phase of life; and the prevailing tendency to think of end of working life and retirement as gender-neutral or following a typical male trajectory. The findings of a qualitative study of people aged 50+ in the UK challenge some of the key assumptions underpinning the utility of flexible work in extending working lives, and provide insight into the ways in which working in later life is constructed and enacted differently for men and women.

Suggested Citation

  • Wendy Loretto & Sarah Vickerstaff, 2015. "Gender, age and flexible working in later life," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 29(2), pages 233-249, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:29:y:2015:i:2:p:233-249
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Philip Taylor & Catherine Earl & Christopher McLoughlin, 2016. "Contractual Arrangements and the Retirement Intentions of Women in Australia," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 19(3), pages 175-195.
    2. Persefoni Zeri & Charalambos Tsekeris & Theodore Tsekeris, 2018. "Investigating the Macedonia Naming Dispute in the Twitter Era: Implications for the Greek Identity Crisis," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 127, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    3. Claire Preston & Nick Drydakis & Suzanna Forwood & Suzanne Hughes & Catherine Meads, 2019. "What Are the Structural Barriers to Planning for Later Life? A Scoping Review of the Literature," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 17-26.
    4. Lyberaki, Antigone & Tinios, Platon, 2018. "Long-term care, ageing and gender in the Greek crisis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 90299, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Spivack, April J. & Woodside, Arch G., 2019. "Applying complexity theory for modeling human resource outcomes: Antecedent configurations indicating perceived location autonomy and work environment choice," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 109-119.

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