of formal education) is also included as a control variable because it is likely to influence an array of factors such as occupation, income, wealth, health (House and Williams, 2000), and subsequent labor force transitions. Measurement of Health Measures of physical health such as hypertension, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, chronic lung disease, psychological problems, at thi itin, and cancer are included in the analyses. First, these were coded as dummy variables according to how the respondent answered the question, "Has a doctor ever told you that you have (had a) [condition]." A summary measure of the total number of the above conditions ever diagnosed is included in the analyses. A measure of the respondent's self-rated health is also included (l=excellent, 2=very good, 3=good, 4=fair, 5=poor Measurement of Family Circumstances Both present family circumstance and earlier social roles impact labor force behavior in later life (O'Rand et al., 1992). Previous research has shown that single parenthood experiences affect women's retirement behavior (Brown and Pienta, 2002). Women typically enter single parenthood via one of two pathways. First, women may become single mothers as a result of a nonmaritalfirst birth (1= nonmarital first birth; 0= otherwise). Second, when women with children divorce or become widowed we measure post marital single parenthood (1= post marital single parent; 0= otherwise). Given single mother's relatively precarious economic circumstances, older women who have experienced single parenthood may need to continue working in order to amass sufficient savings for retirement. Further, racial disparities in rates of single parenthood may play a role in the race-retirement relationship.