Gender Differences in Retirement Behavior: How Family, Work, and Pension Regime Explain Retirement in Chile

Abstract

Abstract While there is vast research on the Chilean pension system, its financial sustainability, and overall effects on the economy, the literature is scanter about gender differences in retirement and its determinants in the context of a high-income developing country with low rates of female labor market participation and less generous welfare provisions. This study seeks to address these gaps. Employing data from the Longitudinal Social Protection Survey (LSPS), we conduct survival analyses to (a) estimate differences in the risk of retirement between men and women, and to (b) investigate how the decision of retirement is influenced by family, work/socioeconomic factors, and pension regimes. Our analyses focused on the age of the first pension receipt. We carry out supplemental analyses on whether pension receipt leads to permanent exit from the labor market. Our results showed that women have a higher risk of receiving their first pension and retire earlier than men. We found that different work experiences prompt women to leave the labor market earlier than men. These results differ from prior research in developed countries that indicated that in countries with low female labor participation rates, women retire later than men.