Women's work patterns are changing.
Not only are older women staying in the workplace longer, but the periods during which they leave their jobs to be with their children come later in their lives as careers take precedence over childrearing.
Those are among the findings of two new papers that analyze census, earnings and retirement data to identify the ways in which women's career paths are changing.
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For one thing, they now look much more like men's careers than they used to, although there is still a period during which women leave the workforce for family reasons.
Now, however, that period is later in life than it used to be, coming during their 30s and 40s instead of earlier, and then women return to work—to stay later, into their 60s and 70s.
And while some are remaining in the workplace longer by choice—thanks to better education and devotion to a career, and even having a good time doing so—many are not.
In fact, a third paper points out that while education, marital disruption and fewer children all play a role in keeping women in the workforce later in their lives, so do debt and household finances.
Today's older women, it found, have more debt than previous generations of women and are more financially fragile than their predecessors.
Data from the National Financial Capability Study, the third study found, show that factors associated with retirement planning include having more education and greater financial literacy.
Women reporting excessive amounts of debt and who are fragile financially are also less financially literate; in addition, they had more dependent children and were subject to income shocks.
But the income shocks alone aren't solely responsible for their financial fragility, the study said. Even if they have financial resources, these women don't know how to manage them, and thus find it harder to avoid sinking into debt as they get closer to retirement.
Overall, recent groups of women approaching retirement have more debt than earlier groups, with total debt more than doubled in constant dollars.
In addition, these recent groups of older women were increasingly likely to be coping with mortgage debt amounting to more than half the value of their homes—with women on average paying more for their mortgages than men do.
And one last blow: the percentage of women with savings of less than $25,000 in these recent groups is approximately double that of the earlier groups.
Women are also more likely to declare bankruptcy than men, even as people over 65 make up the fastest-growing group of those filing for bankruptcy. So it's no wonder that women are remaining in the workplace well past retirement age.
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