Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
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Notes -
I noticed that the current top post on the SSC subreddit examines differing cultural attitudes towards male and female life expectancy. One commenter noted the following:
To which another responded:
"Granny-tracking" is an English expression I never heard before, but it did ring a bell. I can't tell what current German legislation is on his matter, but I know for sure that Hungarian law is similar to what the German was(?) - women have the option to retire earlier though their life expectancy is higher on average. As far as I know, this is normal in most countries. And yes, the most likely explanation I can come up with is indeed that society operates under the tacit assumption that old women can be generally expected to fulfill the socially desirable role of unpaid babysitters, basically, whereas old men cannot, for various reasons. And this role is more important than whatever jobs they would be doing - it's really that simple, isn't it?
Let's also consider that demographic implosion and social atomization probably has little effect on this. A child needs care and supervision even if it's an only child, and even moreso if it's being raised by a single mother.
Another aspect is that society doesn't treat male and female careers the same way. The notion that men can basically be forced to keep working until they drop dead is something that society can tacitly accept more or less, but not in the case of women. In fact, it's generally acceptable for women to basically drop out of the rat race after finding a husband, then preferably having two children in succession, thus leaving the job market for 6-7 years, returning to it afterwards only to the extent that family expenses absolutely demand it.
Does anyone have a different perspective?
I don't think that happens much here in the states, though it might be different business to business. I believe all federal employees are the same.
As for why do people do it? I think you present the best argument a state might use, but it might also just be old-school parochial sexism.
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