ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the structural and individual processes that differentiate the life course of men and women and yield patterns of inequality in adulthood and old age. Demographic, economic, and political trends have led to the increased differentiation of the life course of men and women. The book discusses the specific processes that link family and work in the production of inequality over the life course. It explains the complex pathways through later life, including the heterogeneity of pathways to retirement. Retirement has become a common feature of life in industrial societies. The book also discusses the general framework for comparing the bases of variability and inequality of United States with other countries. The interplay of employment, family and state welfare institutions is central to the production of variability and inequality in the structure of the life course and in late-life outcomes.