Retirement: A Problematic Concept for Older Women

ABSTRACT

The paper reports a study exploring the meaning of retirement for older professional women. The analysis is based on 50 questionnaires, and 25 indepth interviews of women between the ages of 45 and 65, all recognised high achievers in the field of human services in Sydney, Australia.

Most women in the sample did not make systematic plans for their retirement, nor did they wish to do so. There appear to be several reasons for this. First, for most women paid and unpaid work are closely interconnected. The particular mix of paid and unpaid work shifts constantly throughout the lifetime, whether the woman is officially “retired” or not. Second, many women have inadequate financial security and simply cannot afford to leave paid employment. Third, women in seeking balance in their lives usually wish for a reduced emphasis on paid employment to make way for other creative and social interests, but not a loss of professional employment. The study concludes that traditional constructions of work and retirement are simply inappropriate for professional career women.