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Worklife Determinants of Retirement Income Differentials Between Men and Women

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  • Phillip J. Levine
  • Olivia S. Mitchell
  • John W. Phillips

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Phillip J. Levine & Olivia S. Mitchell & John W. Phillips, 1999. "Worklife Determinants of Retirement Income Differentials Between Men and Women," NBER Working Papers 7243, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:7243
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    Cited by:

    1. Carole Bonnet & Dominique Meurs & Benoît Rapoport, 2018. "Gender inequalities in pensions: different components similar levels of dispersion," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(4), pages 527-552, December.
    2. Carole Bonnet & Dominique Meurs & Benoît Rapoport, 2016. "Gender inequalities in pensions: Are determinants the same in the private and public sectors?," Working Papers hal-04141603, HAL.
    3. John Knowles & Nezih Guner, 2007. "Marital Instability and the Distribution of Wealth," 2007 Meeting Papers 785, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    4. Phillip B. Levine & Olivia S. Mitchell & John W. Phillips, "undated". "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.
    5. Brian S. Armour & M. Melinda Pitts, 2002. "Incorporating insurance rate estimates and differential mortality into net marginal Social Security tax rate calculations," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2002-29, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    6. Olivia S. Mitchell, "undated". "New Trends in Pension Benefit and Retirement Provisions," Pension Research Council Working Papers 2000-1, Wharton School Pension Research Council, University of Pennsylvania.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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