Women's Work and Pensions: What is Good, What is Best?

Bernd Marin is Executive Director of the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research in Vienna and Eszter Zólyomi is Researcher at the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research in Vienna.

• Contents: Part I Introduction: General trends in pension reform around the millennium and their impact on women, Bernd Marin. Part II General Contributions: A discussion of retirement income security for men and women, Annika Sundén; Women and pensions. Effects of pension reforms on women's retirement security, Elsa Fornero and Chiara Monticone; Poverty amongst older women and pensions policy in the European Union, Asghar Zaidi, Katrin Gasior and Eszter Zólyomi. Part III Single and Comparative Country Studies: Pension system in Poland in the gender context, Agnieszka Chlon-Dominczak; The 1.000€ trap. Implications of Austrian social and tax policy on labour supply, Eva Pichler; Women's work and pensions: some empirical facts and figures. Austria in an international comparison, Michael Fuchs; Restricting pre-retirement - what about older women's ability to work?, Raija Gould. Part IV Some Preliminary Conclusions: What is Good, Bad, Best for Women?: Gender equality, neutrality, specificity and sensitivity - and the ambivalence of benevolent welfare paternalism, Bernd Marin. Part V Annex: Some facts and figures on women's lives, work and pensions, Bernd Martin and Eszter Zólyomi (with Silvia Fässler and Katrin Gasior).

'At a time when pension reform, coverage and adequacy are high on the socio-economic and political agenda... this publication fills an important gap by looking at the impact of the pension reforms on half of the population, which is all too frequently exposed to poverty in old age.' Transfer 'Of special interest in the chapters on single country and comparative studies is Gould’s conclusion that partial disability benefits can contribute to labour market participation and thus to income in retirement... Some of the chapters and a comprehensive annex are packed full of voluminous data; a treasure trove for students, teachers and researchers... the highly detailed discussion of specific situations enables broad trends to be identified and broad conclusions to be drawn, making it a most useful volume.' Citizen's Income 'While the book is devoted to pension and retirement issues, it also paints a broad picture of gender differences in everyday lives, especially with respect to retirement. ... nicely summarises the main conclusions regarding the implications of pension changes on women's lives, emphasizing again the complexity in drawing conclusions as to what is best for women. ... Taken together, Women's Work and Pensions is a fine collection of studies which together give an interesting and revealing account of pension arrangements and their possible implications on women's lives. As such, the book serves as a valuable resource for those interested in gender inequalities and how they evolve over time.' International Journal of Social Welfare