ABSTRACT

This chapter outlines three contrasting models of welfare state in terms of their social objectives, and assess the extent of poverty and gender inequality among elderly people in one Economic Community (EC) country exemplifying each model: Denmark, West Germany, and Britain. It examines women's employment patterns in these three countries and the extent to which the pension system in each country presents obstacles to women with non-standard employment obtaining a pension income in their own right. The chapter argues that the risk of an inadequate personal income in later life for those with non-standard employment, especially women with domestic responsibilities, is greater the larger the private occupational sector. It considers the impact that some of the possible reforms to pension systems are likely to have on gender inequality of pension income. Pension systems where the state provides minimal pensions, leaving private occupational pensions to play a major role, are particularly detrimental to women's acquisition of their own pension.