GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PENSIONS

The causes of gender differences in pensions are examined for retirees and employees using the 1982 Newly Entitled Beneficiary Survey, and the 1979 and 1988 May Current Population Surveys. For both retirees and the employed population, much of the gender gap in coverage is accounted for by gender differences in labor market characteristics. While children and marriage have a negative effect on female coverage among retirees even after controlling for labor marker characteristics, the negative effect is not observed among more recent groups of female employees. Finally, recent convergence of male and female labor market characteristics contributed to a decline in the coverage gap during the 1980s.