They never really explained that Peggy seemed to be a high school graduate (if even that), her husband had left her years before, yet she wasn't working when the show started out, and only worked briefly at Molly's school. At first I thought she might be on disability due to all of the pills she had sitting by her chair, but if that were the case she wouldn't have gone to work at Molly's school for fear of losing her benefits. Most people on disability wouldn't do that. When the show started out I thought she was maybe 50 or 55, a long way from retirement. With Joyce she worked for the airlines and was probably able to retire after 20 years.