ABSTRACT

Inequality among the elderly largely results from differences between those who have experienced steady employment throughout their working lives and those whose employment has been interrupted by economic changes, market discrimination, family obligations, and other life events. The literature on the economic consequences of market activity focuses on ethnicity and gender as two major correlates of economic inequality and discrimination. Accordingly, women attain lower levels of wealth and accumulate fewer market benefi ts than men because of their poor market standing and their interrupted employment careers due to home and child responsibilities (Blau, Ferber & Winkler, 1997; Evan & McPherson, 1990; Mitchell, 1999; O’Rand & Henretta, 1999). By the same token, immigrants and members of minority groups encounter diffi culties securing lucrative jobs during their working careers, and often have low skills and an interrupted employment history (Raijman & Tienda, 1999; Stier & Tienda, 2001). As they age, they become more economically vulnerable than people who have experienced uninterrupted work histories (Danziger a& Gottschalk, 1995; O’Rand & Henretta, 1999; Matras, 1993).