ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses four major issues that affect women's working lives: the 'second shift' of domestic activities; the prevalence of part-time work among women; occupational segregation by gender; and women's lifetime work history disruptions. Working women have often been described as having to negotiate the 'second shift' or the 'double shift' fulfilling the requirements of paid work while also managing the lion's share of unpaid household chores and childcare. The recognition that women's work trajectories are often markedly different from those of men is important in understanding women's planning for, and reaction to, retirement. Women may be more used to 'switching gears' between paid and unpaid work, for example through having put more effort into maintaining non-work friendships and interests. Part-time work is certainly more prevalent among women than men. Women's working lives differ from men's not just in terms of extent of part-time work or frequency of disruptions.
