This is an award under the Grants for Improving Doctoral Research Program. This is a study of saving and retirement planning among working and middle class couples, particularly through the influence of gender and inequality. Theoretical issues concern the influence of education, gender, and social class on decision-making in the family. Data include interviews with 20 retired couples, interviewed together and separately, and survey data from the National Longitudinal Survey (concentrating on the "older men" cohort and their "mature" spouses) and from the Health and Retirement Study. %%% This research will contribute to sociological understanding of family relations, financial planning, and social class differences. It will be of help to policy makers concerned with family stability and the economic well-being of the elderly. In addition to the scientific gains to be achieved by the research, this award will materially assist a highly promising student in completing research for the Ph.D. dissertation. Thus it contributes to the future scientific manpower of the nation and the thorough training of the next generation of social scientists.
