This booklet was written to help readers understand how the Retirement Equity Act of 1984 makes it easier for both women and men to collect retirement benefits under private pension plans. Since women have had special problems in the pension area, it emphasizes how the retirement law works to their advantage by preventing loss of coverage during…

The author addresses definitional problems encountered when studying women's retirement, their decisions to retire, and their adaptations to retirement. She states that the issue of women's retirement should be examined in light of current knowledge about men's retirement while acknowledging the variability of older women's work histories. (CH)

In providing an overview of the complex topic of mature women in the workplace, this report presents some of the known, and sometimes contradictory, facts about women and work. It is divided into three sections. The first section begins by detailing facts and figures regarding the older woman worker of the 1980s. Comparisons are made between men's…