Women in Retirement and Old Age

Abstract

In the previous chapter I attempted to develop an alternative to the conventional view of the male’s experience of retirement. I tried to relate the analysis both to the class and occupational structure and to aspects of work organisation within capitalism. In doing this I tried to move away from viewing retirement solely in terms of individual adjustment. The concern of this next chapter is to attempt a similar analysis for women, exploring the conventional view that, in comparison with men, they experience greater security and continuity in the period of old age. Simone de Beauvoir has presented this image in the following way: