The unequal distribution of men and women across occupations is both an historical phenomenon and a reality of today's labour markets. Such occupational sex- segregation is a major factor that produces important differences in individuals' life experiences and is deeply entrenched with other gender inequalities in the work context. This thesis enhances our knowledge on the degree of and patterns in sex- segregation across occupations, explores the mechanisms and processes which produce and perpetuate the division of work tasks by gender, and assesses the consequences of such segregation for important domains of social and economic life. We use large-scale longitudinal survey datasets for Britain and advanced quantitative methods to explore trends in occupational sex-segregation in recent decades and patterns of such segregation in the contemporary British labour market, investigate individual and job-related factors associated with working in occupations with different sex profiles, and estimate the impact of occupational sex-segregation on wages, the gender wage gap, and reported job satisfaction. Our results indicate that occupational sex-segregation in Britain has declined in recent years, but its incidence is still high. Working in. female-dominated occupations is associated with earning lower wages for both men and women and explains a sizeable portion of the gender wage gap. However, the sex-composition of the occupations in which individuals work has smaller and less patterned effects on their reported job satisfaction. Overall, our findings suggest that, despite recent trends towards more equal outcomes for men and women in the labour market, the separation of men and women across lines of work remains important and further research is required to understand its multiple implications.

Population ageing is a global phenomenon and occurring most rapidly in countries in Asia, which have experienced a rapid decline in fertility and mortality. Malaysia is one such country. The increase in life expectancy along with a rising cost of living has meant that many elderly women are exposed to the risk of poverty in later life. This is also due to the inability of the current pension system in Malaysia to recognise interruptions during employment. In the West, there has been extensive research highlighting how living longer combined with an early retirement age and having disruptions during employment years may lead to an inadequate retirement income and affect the quality of life during retirement. Such research is lacking in the Malaysian context. This research therefore investigated the effectiveness of Malaysia’s current pension system to deliver an adequate income in retirement, taking into account the differences in life course experienced by women, particularly interrupted work histories as a result of care-taking responsibilities as well as differences in educational level. This study used a hypothetical simulation model – MHYRISA (Malaysian Hypothetical Retirement Income Simulation Analysis) model to simulate different scenarios. The findings suggest that women with gaps and disruptions during employment will not be able to maintain their standard of living in later life under the present pension system due to the low replacement rate level generated. The findings also suggest that the current retirement age and contribution rate should be increased and also reconsidering the pre-retirement withdrawals policy in order to provide an adequate retirement income during old age. The government should also consider providing a pension credit contribution to women who are unemployed due to care-taking responsibilities, so that they are lifted out of poverty during old age.