Why older rural women in Ireland want to work: it's not all about the money

Abstract

This paper extends our understanding of employment and gendered rural ageing by examining the latent benefits of paid work for mid-life women in rural Ireland. Existing social gerontology literature deals extensively with manifest financial reasons to work, consequences of gendered pay and pension inequalities, work-related health concerns and the negative impacts to an extended working life for women. However, there is much less focus on the latent non-financial positive contributions that work provides for the older woman, especially within a rural context. Findings from this study show how mid-life women, even if in lower-paid, precarious work or in poorer health may choose to continue working into older age. Paid work provides not only financial autonomy, but also temporal structure, life purpose, personal agency, social connectivity and a self-identity that most women are reluctant to relinquish to retirement. Meaningful work plays a critical role in the ageing experience of older rural women. A qualitative study of 25 women aged 45–65 in Connemara, Ireland was undertaken from a lifecourse perspective and analysed using constructivist grounded theory to allow rich, novel narrative to emerge. Narrative from seven, who best represent all participants, are utilised in this paper. Conclusions suggest that the latent benefits of paid work are at least as, if not more important than financial gain for rural mid-life women.

Discourses of work life in narrative identities of people with advanced dementia

“…Work provided them with a sense of agency, self‐efficacy, self‐worth, importance, belonging, visibility, appreciation, value, and finally, power and authority. As noted by Herbert 23 and Silver, 24 older adults without major cognitive difficulties also attributed similar value to work activities. However, these work‐associated values are especially endangered due to the sociopolitical outlook on dementia.…”

“…21,22 Many studies have shown that work continues to be an essential aspect of self-identity even after retirement. For instance, Herbert 23 found that older rural women continued working because it not only allowed them to maintain financial autonomy but also provided temporal structure to their lives, a sense of purpose, personal agency, and social connectivity. Silver 24 showed that people in executive positions could perceive retirement as an unwanted change forced by social pressure because work provided them with a sense of productivity, networking opportunities, significant fulfillment, and personal satisfaction they did not want to lose.…”