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The employment transitions of mid-life women: health and care effects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2009

SIOBHAN AUSTEN  and
RACHEL ONG
SIOBHAN AUSTEN*
Affiliation:
Women in Social and Economic Research, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
RACHEL ONG
Affiliation:
School of Economics and Finance, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
*
Address for correspondence: Siobhan Austen, Women in Social and Economic Research, Curtin University, GPO Box U 1987, Perth 6845, Australia E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article provides information on the movements into and out of paid work by mid-life women. This is a group whose representation in the paid workforce is growing as population ageing proceeds and as educational qualifications expand. It is also a group that will be critical to any labour supply response to the economic challenges posed by population ageing. However, current understandings of the needs and circumstances of mid-life women in paid work are limited. To help address this knowledge gap we use data from the first five waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey (2001–2005) to identify the causal influences of health, care and other factors on the ability of mid-life women to remain in and re-enter paid work. The results show that poor health and/or substantial care roles have a negative impact on the employment chances of this group. However, importantly, there is asymmetry in these health and care effects, in that improvements in health and/or reductions in care roles do not increase the chances of returning to paid work. This finding indicates that many mid-life women who experience poor health and/or undertake large care roles face substantial long-term negative consequences for their employment chances and, thus, their retirement and pre-retirement incomes.

Keywords

ageingAustralian longitudinal studiesmid-life womenemploymenthealth and care effects
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , February 2010 , pp. 207 - 227
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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