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This paper examines the poverty perceptions of retired women by assessing the extent to which demographic characteristics, economic considerations, household adequacy levels and satisfaction measures influence perceptions of poverty. Based on data from a South African national survey, binomial logistic regression models were employed, whereby demographic characteristics (first level variables) were assessed relative to the respondents' poverty perceptions. Thereafter, economic considerations (second level variables) were included in the model to draw more inferences on the conditions leading to poverty perceptions. Finally, respondents' household adequacy levels and satisfaction measures (third level variables) were nested into the model for a complete investigation of the antecedents of poverty perceptions. Many of the retired women in this study perceive themselves to be impoverished or at risk of poverty. The results indicate that marital status and education levels have a significant influence on perceptions of poverty. Furthermore, the study found that monetary measures do not sufficiently explain the pathway leading to retirement poverty perceptions. Instead, perceptions of financial security and the satisfaction with one's standard of living influence gendered poverty perceptions. This study advances our understanding of the conditions influencing the poverty perceptions of retired women. As most of the respondents in this sample rely on the government for financial support, this study provides pertinent suggestions to government agencies on the conditions associated with gendered poverty perceptions at retirement.

This paper examines the poverty perceptions of retired women by assessing the extent to which demographic characteristics, economic considerations, household adequacy levels and satisfaction measures influence perceptions of poverty. Based on data from a South African national survey, binomial logistic regression models were employed, whereby demographic characteristics (first level variables) were assessed relative to the respondents' poverty perceptions. Thereafter, economic considerations (second level variables) were included in the model to draw more inferences on the conditions leading to poverty perceptions. Finally, respondents' household adequacy levels and satisfaction measures (third level variables) were nested into the model for a complete investigation of the antecedents of poverty perceptions. Many of the retired women in this study perceive themselves to be impoverished or at risk of poverty. The results indicate that marital status and education levels have a significant influence on perceptions of poverty. Furthermore, the study found that monetary measures do not sufficiently explain the pathway leading to retirement poverty perceptions. Instead, perceptions of financial security and the satisfaction with one's standard of living influence gendered poverty perceptions. This study advances our understanding of the conditions influencing the poverty perceptions of retired women. As most of the respondents in this sample rely on the government for financial support, this study provides pertinent suggestions to government agencies on the conditions associated with gendered poverty perceptions at retirement.

In recent decades, an estimated 100 million middle-aged and elderly Chinese women have organized or joined public dance groups after leaving the work force. My dissertation uses this strikingly popular collective dancing phenomenon to explain how new models of productive aging have emerged as a result of China's post-reform social transformation. It seeks to uncover the ways in which personal cultivation, kinship dynamics, and state influence can work in concert to redefine what it means to grow old in the modern world.With roughly one-third of retirees and seven percent of the entire Chinese population participating, the collective dancing phenomenon offers an incisive view of the Chinese social landscape. On the surface, the phenomenon appears to be a direct product of economic reforms: collective dance groups exploded on the scene in the late 1990s when millions of women were laid off during the country's transition into a consumer economy. However, I argue that collective dancing must also be understood within the context of a seismic shift in how old age is perceived and treated in urban China. My dissertationiiexplains how this generation of Chinese women copes with diminishing social welfare programs and related changes in family structure while at the same time investing in an activity that brings them personal fulfillment. I focus particularly on the emergence of self- reliance and self-care as core guiding principles for China's recent retirees as they assume near-total responsibility for themselves for the first time in their lives. Drawing from observation and interview data collected from two dance groups as well as community leaders and government officials over an 18-month period, my dissertation breaks down the apparent contradiction between the rise of self-reliance in Chinese society and the critical importance of collective social enterprises for personal cultivation.

Work by economists offers differing explanations for the volunteer partici pation of women. Mueller argues that women volunteer as a stepping- stone to employment in the market. Blau argues that, because of the constraints women face, volunteer activity serves as a substitute for work in the market. A synthesized view argues that both the substitution and the stepping-stone hypotheses help explain volunteer behavior. This paper examines whether such a synthesized view is consistent with the experi ences of retired women, using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynam ics. The empirical results strongly support the idea that retired women volunteer as a substitute for market work. The results are also consistent with the idea that some women may use volunteer participation as a stepping-stone to work in the market.