Baby Boom Women Enter Retirement

Background and Purpose:

As the baby boom generation enters the “retirement years”, research has been focused largely on men's retirement. Attention has been directed to the retirement decision, its timing, and to its subsequent transition and adjustment as affected by health, workforce attachment, marital, and income considerations. More attention might now be directed to the values and preferences of older men and women regarding the years traditionally spent in retirement.

A new research agenda focusing on female retirement is now underway. Over the past decade, a number of studies have been directed specifically to women's paths to retirement and their retirement experiences (Dailey, 1998; Kutza, 1998; Price,1998), where earlier any information extant on female retirement came from large, cross-sectional studies of males and females.

To further the focus on women's retirement, this qualitative, exploratory study examined retirement expectations, retirement realities, and the subjective meanings of work and retirement among “leading edge” female members of the baby boom cohort.

Methods:

A case-centered research design with a purposive sample was utilized. Thirty female early retirees were recruited for the sample via snowball sampling techniques. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, either in-person or by telephone, using a guided interview schedule incorporating open-ended responses. Narrative thematic analysis was employed utilizing a coding scheme related to domains of interest.

Results:

The study's major findings included that 90% of participants viewed their extensive employment as careers, rather than as supplementary family income; that two-thirds of the sample had experienced career discontinuity for family reasons; that 63% of participants saw their identity as closely bound to their work; and that participants valued productivity, with 53% continuing some workforce participation, and 57% providing caregiving for family members. Conclusions and Implications:

Findings from the present study, and other retirement studies underway, should be used to inform policy and decision makers of the continuing commitment of baby boomers to workforce participation and their apparent availability for full-time, part-time and occasional work. These experienced workers, male and female, will be needed as the “baby bust” generation enters the workforce. Moreover, many of these male and female retirees will be available as consultants to both industry and non-profit organizations; they appear committed to living purpose-filled lives, making a difference in their families and communities. Policy makers should be reminded that, despite the seeming economic independence of the boomer women of this sample, the later lives of many other boomer women may be prone to poverty. The current economic downturn and the looming crises of the Social Security retirement system and Medicare raise the question of what type of “safety net” will be available to older persons, particularly older single women, whose single status, workforce earnings, and retirement accounts make them particularly at risk.

References:

Dailey, N. (1998). When baby boom women retire. Westport, CT: Praeger

Kutza,E. (1998). Women's retirement-The influence of work history. Journal of Women & Aging, 6(3),69-85.

Price, C.A. (1998). Women and retirement: The unexplored transition. New York: Garland Press.