Gender, the life course and pension provision in the UK.

This thesis explores the notion that retirement is a gendered concept with particular reference to differences in pension acquisition between men and women. It employs a life course approach embedded within a political economy perspective. Central to this approach is the notion that events and experiences earlier in the life course influence later outcomes. An individual’s social, economic and political situation is both the outcome of previous actions and the result of a contingent historical process. By using a large secondary data set, the General Household Survey (GHS), this thesis analyses the links between education, employment and pension acquisition for both men and women. In order to establish further causation logistic regression is used which treats ‘variables’ as if they possessed causal powers and isolates the significance of various factors on pension accumulation. By also conducting a case study of the Teachers Pension Scheme (TPS) largely dependent on the use of interviews this thesis is able to provide a more detailed explanation of some of the trends apparent within the survey data as to the causes of women’s inferior pensions situation within a particular profession. This process of triangulation in association with the literature work enabled an assessment of the current debates about the future of the British pensions system and the potential affect of policy changes. This is not confined to the suggestions of the government but the ideas put forward by a number of alternative commentaries. In doing so it provides a comprehensive account of the strengths and weaknesses of approaches towards the future of pensions and the potential implications for women.