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Why Retirement, Social Security, and Age Discrimination Policies Need to Consider the Intersectional Experiences of Older Women

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  • Ian Burn
  • Patrick Button
  • Theodore F. Figinski
  • Joanne Song McLaughlin

Abstract

We provide an overview of research that indicates that older women face unique challenges and opportunities with respect to work, retirement, Social Security, and age discrimination law. We present estimates of poverty by age and sex, showing that poverty increases with age for women due to older women often outliving their spouses and becoming widowed. We discuss research that shows that women benefit more than men from working longer. We then note that older women face intersectional discrimination that can unfortunately be a barrier to older women working longer. We detail how older women often “fall between the cracks” of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and are thus not well protected against this intersectional discrimination. As a final example of how women face different circumstances, we summarize research on how older women were differentially negatively impacted by the elimination of Social Security’s Retirement Earnings.

Suggested Citation

  • Ian Burn & Patrick Button & Theodore F. Figinski & Joanne Song McLaughlin, 2020. "Why Retirement, Social Security, and Age Discrimination Policies Need to Consider the Intersectional Experiences of Older Women," NBER Working Papers 27450, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27450
    Note: AG LE LS PE
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    1. Theodore Figinski & David Neumark, 2015. "Does Eliminating the Earnings Test Increase the Incidence of Low Income Among Older Women?," NBER Working Papers 21601, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Ian Burn & Patrick Button & David Neumark, 2017. "Age Discrimination and Hiring of Older Workers," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
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    Cited by:

    1. Berde, Éva & Mágó, Mánuel László, 2021. "Életkori diszkrimináció a magyar munkaerőpiacon. Visszajelzések a fiatalabb, illetve az idősebb nők állásjelentkezéseire [Age discrimination in Hungarys labour market. Job-application responses for," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(4), pages 399-420.
    2. Truc Thi Mai Bui & Patrick Button & Elyce G. Picciotti, 2020. "Early Evidence on the Impact of COVID-19 and the Recession on Older Workers," NBER Working Papers 27448, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Tomar, Sweta & Kent Baker, H. & Kumar, Satish & Hoffmann, Arvid O.I., 2021. "Psychological determinants of retirement financial planning behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 432-449.
    4. Bomikazi Zeka, 2022. "Gendered Poverty Perceptions: How Do Retired Women Fare?," Risks, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-15, January.
    5. Button, Patrick & Khan, Mashfiqur R. & Penn, Mary, 2022. "Do stronger employment discrimination protections decrease reliance on Social Security Disability Insurance? Evidence from the U.S. Social Security reforms," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    6. Cheng-Hua Wang & Fu-Fei Tsai, 2021. "Health Resources and Well-Being in Optimal Aging: The Mediating Role of Selection, Optimization, and Compensation Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-16, August.
    7. Luca Fumarco & Benjamin Harrell & Patrick Button & David Schwegman & E Dils, 2020. "Gender Identity, Race, and Ethnicity-based Discrimination in Access to Mental Health Care: Evidence from an Audit Correspondence Field Experiment," NBER Working Papers 28164, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    1. David Neumark & Ian Burn & Patrick Button & Nanneh Chehras, 2016. "Do State Laws Protecting Older Workers from Discrimination Reduce Age Discrimination in Hiring? Experimental (and Nonexperimental) Evidence," Working Papers wp349, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination
    • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law

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