‘Divergent Work Ageing’ and Older Migrants’ (Un)extended Working Lives

Abstract

This article theorises older ethnic minority women’s work attitudes and labour market behaviour from an intersectional cumulative perspective within the extended working lives contexts. Empirical evidence has been drawn from interviews with South Asian British Muslim women aged between 50 and 66 living in Greater Manchester, UK. The findings show that the cohort’s ageing process is asynchronous with the British work ageing outlook as their cultural understanding of working age, age roles and successful ageing defies the extended working lives philosophies, and cumulative factors including caring responsibilities, legacy inequalities, and health issues present additional challenges for extending their work lives. Their culture- and context-specific work ageing process remains absent in the UK’s labour market discourse and policy landscape. The article theorises their idiosyncratic work ageing including non-conformist attitudes to extending work lives by proposing a ‘divergent work ageing’ model that can guide policymakers in creating inclusive labour market policies.