Women aged 55 and older have been participating actively in the American work force and recently have been drawing increased attention from researchers in the social sciences (Ashbaugh & Fay, 1987) . This study examines the nature of service work performed by older part-time women workers and their younger women co-workers, and the relationship between the two generations in the workplace. The following research questions guided this exploratory study: Do the older women workers and their younger women co-workers report that there have been changes in the co-workers' work since the older women began working at the job site? What do the older women workers and their younger women co-workers perceive to be the emotional quality of their intergenerational interaction in the workplace? If the co-workers report that the way their work is performed in the setting has changed since the older women began working, is the intergenerational relationship influenced by the perceived change in the distribution of work?

The effects of maternal employment on the young child have been examined for over 50 years. This research focuses on perceived maternal employment effects at a later point in the family life cycle: when mother is older and children are grown. Thirty-two poverty level women aged 56-83 (M=66.4 years) and their adult sons (n=l 6) and daughters (n= 16) were independently interviewed. All of the older women were paid workers or "stipended volunteers" who were employed part time (20 hours a week) in child care, clerical, or other service jobs. They had a variety of work histories; all were widowed or divorced.