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In this paper I discuss ways in which gender relations -- that is relations of inequality between women and men -- may change in aging societies where life expectations are high, fertility low, and where old people constitute a high proportion of the population. The central argument is that the aging society will provide opportunities to develop more egalitarian relations between women and men both in the public and private sphere. Such opportunities will only be realized if the link between gender and the care of children is severed. This is most likely to occur if women's position in the labor market is improved. It is argued that the aging society may indeed have a high demand for women's labor which makes such a development likely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While women earn less, on average, than men in all advanced industrialized countries, countries vary in the size of the gender earnings gap. We use data from nine advanced industrialized democracies to investigate the extent to which the ratio of women's to men's income is associated with sex segregation, labor's power and inclusiveness, leftist parties' strength, family policies, labor demand, and relative human capital levels. In general, labor's ability to bargain collectively explains more of the gender gap, directly and indirectly, than other factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]