Working choices of women nearing retirement

Supporting research project

Background

Despite strong growth in female labour force participation over the past few decades, a significant gap still exists between the participation rates of men and women, particularly for specific age groups. Further, relative to other OECD countries, labour force participation in Australia appears to be particularly low for prime aged women (ranked 20th in the OECD), and women aged fifty five to 64 years (ranked 14th).

The Commission's report titled 'Economic Implications of an Ageing Australia' pointed to the need to explore the reasons behind such participation gaps. Such findings could assist in directing policy changes to raise participation rates and thereby offset, in part, the slower growth of labour supply associated with the ageing of the population over the next few decades. Such policy settings are also heavily contingent on women aged 50 years and over wanting to undertake paid work. Participation decisions can be influenced by increasing incentives (for example by lowering EMTRs), and reducing barriers to work.

Objectives of the study

• identify differences in the labour force participation rates of women compared with men in Australia and with women in other OECD countries
• explore the reasons behind these gaps, with a particular emphasis on  the lifecycle influences on participation decisions for women aged over fifty years
• identify the significance of government policies in driving observed differences in participation rates.