Hidden behind the Smokescreen: Does Marriage Conceal the Financial Consequences of Women’s Work-Family Choices?

Sylwia Timoszuk, Warsaw School of Economics
Monika Oczkowska , Warsaw School of Economics
Pawel A. Strzelecki, SGH Warsaw School of Economics

This study is aimed at expanding our knowledge on the financial situation of older married and widowed women in respect to their work and family history and current marital status. In the nowadays contribution pension systems the role of the labour market performance before retirement is particularly important for the level of pension benefits. However, in case of woman, being widowed or married in old age may also provide an important explanation of their financial situation. It has been postulated that marriage provides a certain protection against women’s material deprivation. In our analysis we use information for widowed and married women from Germany, Poland and Czech Republic from two types of dataset: (1) all regular waves (from wave 1 to wave 7) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and (2) the retrospective survey SHARELIFE (wave 3 and recently published wave 7). The analysis is based on the possibility that the data from both sources can be linked for respondents who participated in both SHARE and SHARELIFE. The research will provide insight into financial situation of older women in relation not only to their work-family histories but also to current marital status. The study will add a valuable perspective into relation between widowhood and the financial hardship experienced by older women.

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 Presented in Session P3. Poster Session Migration, Economics, Environment, Methods, History and Policy