Nations that are raising retirement ages appear to work on the assumption that there is appropriate employment available for people who are expected to retire later. 'Gender, ageing and extended working life' challenges both this narrative, and the gender-neutral way the expectation for extending working lives is presented in most policy-making circles. The international contributors to this book - part of the Ageing in a Global Context series - apply life-course approaches to understanding evolving definitions of work and retirement. They consider the range of transitions from paid work to retirement that are potentially different for women and men in different family circumstances and occupational locations, and offer solutions governments should consider to enable them to evaluate existing policies. Based on evidence from Australia, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States, this is essential reading for researchers and students, and for policymakers who formulate and implement employment and pensions policy at national and international levels.

Áine Ní Léime is a Marie Sklodowska Curie International Outgoing Research Fellow at the National University of Ireland Galway. She conducts research on gender, ageing and work.

Debra Street is Chair of the Department of Sociology at the State University of New York at Buffalo, USA.

Sarah Vickerstaff is Professor of Work and Employment at the University of Kent, UK.

Clary Krekula is Associated Professor of Sociology at Karlstad University, Sweden. She undertakes research on critical age studies and on organisational ageing.

Wendy Loretto is Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the University of Edinburgh Business School, UK. Her research focuses on the intersections between gender and age in employment.

PART ONE: Gendering later life work: Empirical, theoretical and policy issues

The empirical landscape of extended working lives ~ Debra Street

Theoretical and conceptual issues in the extending working lives agenda ~ Clary Krekula and Sarah Vickerstaff

Gender perspectives on extended working life policies ~ Áine Ní Léime and Wendy Loretto

PART TWO: Extended working life in seven OECD countries

The Australian empirical landscape of extended working lives: a gender perspective ~ Elizabeth Brooke

Extended working lives in Germany from a gender and life-course perspective: a country in policy transition ~ Anna Hokema Extended working life, gender and precarious work in Ireland ~ Áine Ní Léime, Nata Duvvury and Caroline Finn

Ageing and older workers in Portugal: a gender-sensitive approach ~ Sara Falcão Casaca and Heloísa Perista

Sweden: an extended working life policy that overlooks gender considerations ~ Clary Krekula, Lars-Gunnar Engström and Aida Alvinius

The United Kingdom - a new moral imperative: live longer, work longer ~ Sarah Vickerstaff and Wendy Loretto

Is 70 the new 60? Extending American women's and men's working lives ~ Debra Street and Joanne Tompkins

PART THREE: Conclusion

Gendered and extended work: research and policy needs for work in later life ~ Sarah Vickerstaff, Debra Street, Áine Ní Léime and

Clary Krekula