The Pension Mix For Women in Middle and Late Life: The Changing Employment Relationship

Abstract

The effects of life-course; employment and labor market characteristics on the probability ofpension participation and on type ofpension coverage are estimatedfor two cohorts of working women in middle and late life, respectively. The National Longitudinal Surveys of Mature and Young Women are used to differentiate the relative importance of life course and diverse structuralfactors on worker pension participation and employer coverage patterns. The defined contribution plan is argued to be an indicator of the changing employment relationship which is relieving employers ofpension liability and increasing workers' responsibilities for retirement saving. Probit regressions are used to estimate the relative risks for nonparticipation in any pension among these working women. Multinominal logistic models, controllingfor selectivity, estimate cohortprocesses in workers' access to employer-provided pension types. The results reveal the relative importance for middle-aged and older women of life course and structural variables that reflect life stage and changing employment relationships. Younger cohorts appear to be relatively more vulnerable to the changing employment contract given their greater dependence on defined contribution plans and the conflict between family and market contingencies.