Life Satisfaction for Older Female Homemakers, Retirees, and Workers

An examination of a nationally representative sample of 403 homemakers, 698 retirees, and 119 workers revealed that employment status had a significant effect on older women's life satisfaction. Older women who were currently employed had greater life satisfaction than members of their cohort who were homemakers or retirees. Furthermore, based on path analyses leisure activity emerged as an important predictor of life satisfaction for homemakers and retirees. Income and health problems also had meaningful effects on the life satisfaction of all three groups. Implications of the findings for theory development and future research are discussed.