ABSTRACTAt a time when the proportion of full-time permanent jobs is decreasing and there is evidence of a growth in ‘peripheral’ forms of work, it is important to review the position of older workers, both men and women. Using data from the Labour Force Survey of 1984, it is shown that, while the employment rate falls sharply in the ten-year period prior to state retirement age, it is only those of post-retirement age who are disproportionately represented in peripheral forms of work. It is suggested that some ‘peripheral’ forms of work allow greater flexibility in age of retirement than permanent full-time jobs. While there are clear gender differences among those of pre-retirement age, with a higher proportion of women than men in peripheral jobs, there is a marked erosion of these gender differences amongst men and women who work beyond state retirement age.

ABSTRACTThis paper uses nationally representative data from the General Household Survey for 1980 to investigate the household structure of the elderly in Britain. Household structure is analysed in terms of its relationship to the marital status, age, gender and physical disability of the elderly person. 79% of the elderly either live alone or with their spouse only. As many as 95% of all the elderly in non-institutional accommodation retain their own households – of the rest, the majority move to live with married children, most usually daughters.

Two contrasting theories of the relationship between paid employment and women's health are examined using data from the 1975 and 1976 General Household Survey. The ‘role accumulation’ hypothesis, which proposes that paid employment has beneficial effects on health, was supported for women without children, and for women over 40 with children. However, the causal ordering is unclear, for there is evidence that ill-health reduces the likelihood of labour-force participation especially among women over 40. When those reporting chronic illness are excluded, the association between being a housewife and short-term illness largely disappears. The contrasting hypothesis, that for married women with children the strain of occupying multiple roles leads to poorer health, was also supported, but only for women under 40 who work full-time and have children. These women reported higher levels of illness, although this was less clear among women working in professional and managerial jobs. It is concluded that full-time work for young mothers may be detrimental for their health unless there are adquate financial resources to help with the burden of maintaining the multiple roles of housewife, mother and employee, or until the sexual division of labour in the home changes.