Older Women’s employment: the pension crisis and the crisis of care

This paper explores the employment figures for older women, aged 55-64 in 14 European Union (EU) countries, with attention to the kind of support which is available to older working women caring for family members in need. There is a diversity of employment behavior for older women as well as services to assist them in caring for older family members but the current policies on “active aging” and the gender neutral approach to pension reform does not take into account the unpaid work of caregiving. Where older women are typically employed during these later years in the Nordic countries, there are a range of supports to assist them with caring for family members. In contexts where the state provision of eldercare facilities is weak if the adult daughters are now expected to work, who will care for the very old parents?