Gender inequalities and work after retirement

Abstract

Work after retirement is a topic of interest in the scientific literature, with an emphasis on the benefits of work activity on retirees’ health and wellbeing. In this study, we aim to bring together some elements that must be taken into consideration in this discussion, with the objective of raising the debate about work after retirement, highlighting the effects of gender inequalities on labor market reentry. These inequalities are present during the entire life course, manifesting particularly in work life. Employment trajectories are clearly different for men and women. Often, women take on part-time jobs and interrupt their activities on the labor market, dividing themselves between domestic life and work life, which interferes with the construction of their careers. With aging, gender inequalities in work manifest in deeper ways, with repercussions in the type of retirement and reentry in the labor market, with these being generally more precarious among women. This essay seeks to call attention to the need for protection for groups of aging workers who want or need to return to work, aiming to promote the wellbeing and health of this population.