gender dimensions of ageing

7/30/2019 Gender Dimensions of Ageing

1/20

GenderDimensionsof Ageing

women2000PUBLISHED TO PROMOTE THE GOALS OF THE BEIJING DECLARATION AND THE PLATFORM FOR ACTION asdf

UNITED NATIONS

Division for the Advancement of Women

Department of Economicand Social Affairs

EdwinaSandys

March 2002

GenderDimensionsof Ageing


2/20

INTRODUCTION

In 1995, the Human DevelopmentReport of the United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP)concluded: In no society do women

enjoy the same opportunities asmen. In 2000, progress in the imple-

mentation of the 1995 BeijingDeclaration and Platform for Action

was reviewed by the special sessionof the General Assembly entitledWomen 2000: gender equality,

development and peace for thetwenty-first century. The event

noted that even though significantpositive developments can be identi-

fied, barriers remain and there is stillneed to further implement the goals

and commitments made in Beijing.1

Gender relations structure theentire life cycle, from birth to old age,

influencing access to resources andopportunities and shaping life

choices at every stage. The rele-vance of gender is both ongoing andcumulativethe different circum-

stances that shape the lives ofwomen and men in old age are the

outcome of the many different

opportunities, challenges and con-straints that have gone before. Good

health, economic security, adequatehousingthese are fundamentals ofageing with dignity; yet achieving

them depends on decisions andchoices only partly determined by

each individual.The impact of gender differences

and inequalities in education andemployment opportunities increasesthrough every stage of an individual life,

hitting hardest in old age. As a result,older women are more likely than older

men to be poor. Men and women suf-fer different health problems as they

age, and womens lack of access toadequate care is sharpened by their

higher levels of poverty. As UnitedNations Secretary-General Kofi Annanstated in March 1999, during the

International Year of Older Persons:Women comprise the majority of

older persons in all but a few countries.They are more likely than men to bepoorer in old age, and more likely to

face discrimination. Moreover, theircontributions as caregiversfor exam-

ple, to grandchildren orphaned by

HIV/AIDSare often overlooked andunderpaid, if paid at all.2

Healthy ageing also depends uponwomens and mens attitudestowards themselves and what they

are entitled to as parents, communityelders or citizens. In most societies,

this too is shaped by gender rela-tions: whether people think of them-

selves as useless burdens or valu-able assets reflects social attitudestowards the roles of women and

men, what they can give to societyand what they deserve in return.

Attitudes, like opportunities, are alsoshaped by many other dimensions

that define identity in different soci-etiesincluding race and ethnicity,

religion, disability and, especially,class and wealth.

Media magnify these differences.

Western ideals, often geared to mar-keting concerns, penetrate cultures

around the globe, glorifying youthand distorting age. Stereotypes of allages are reflected back to audiences

as reality, spreading the idea of olderwomen, especially rural women, as a

burden on a younger generation.

Policy implications

As the population age structureshifts, the population of older people

will increase in proportion to that ofyounger people, especially those of

working age. This shift has pro-found policy implicationsfor pen-

sion and income support, for job cre-ation and employment, for health-and elder-care systems and for eco-

nomic growth and development in

every country.Policies to address these issues, if

they are to be effective, must be

informed by an understanding thatwomen and men experience old agevery differently. Older women, espe-

cially if they are poor or disabled, immi-grants or members of a non-majority

racial, ethnic or religious group, com-monly lack the resources and influ-

ence that determine social policies.

women2000 March 2002

2

Gender refers to the socialattributes and opportunitiesassociated with being maleand female and the relation-ships between women andmen and girls and boys, aswell as the relations betweenwomen and those betweenmen. These attributes, oppor-tunities and relationships aresocially constructed and arelearned through socializationprocesses. They are context/time-specific and changeable.Gender determines what isexpected, allowed and valuedin a woman or a man in agiven context. In most soci-

eties, there are differences andinequalities between womenand men in responsibilitiesassigned, activities under-taken, access to and controlover resources, as well asdecision-making opportuni-ties. Gender is part of the

broader sociocultural context.Other important criteria forsociocultural analysis includeclass, race, poverty level, eth-nic group and age.

____________Source: Office of the Special Adviseron Gender Issues and Advancementof Women, United Nations,August 2001.

Gender


3/20

Government agencies and legislatures

that carry out the research and analy-ses on which laws and policies are

developed thus need to understandand address the realities of both olderwomens and mens lives.

Over the past two decades, ageinghas surfaced as a policy issue in vari-

ous global forums. In addition to thosedevoted to ageing or population

issues, including the First WorldAssembly on Ageing in 1982 and theInternational Conference on Popu-

lation and Development in 1994, age-ing has been addressed at United

Nations conferences on women,social development and housing.3 Its

importance was reaffirmed mostrecently at the special session of the

General Assembly in June 2000 toreview implementation of the BeijingPlatform for Action, adopted at the

Fourth World Conference on Womenin 1995.4 Thus as the world prepares

for the Second World Assembly onAgeing to be held in Madrid in April2002, there is increasing awareness

that ageing is also a gender issue, andthat policies, programmes and strate-

gies must be responsive to genderdimensions.

AN AGEING WORLD

Population ageing is a worldwide phe-

nomenon, owing first to declining fer-tility rates and secondly to increased

life expectancy. In every region of theworld, women are having fewer chil-

dren than three decades ago, whenthe overall trend in population growthstarted to slow down. In the early

1970s, the total fertility rate world-

wide was estimated at 4.5 childrenfor each woman, compared with 2.7today.5

At the same time, advances innutrition, medicine and lifestylehave resulted in people living

longer. Life expectancy worldwideincreased from 45 years in 1945 to

69 years in 2000 and is projected toreach 78 years by 2050.6 This

makes older people the fastest-

growing population group: by 2050,the number of people over 60 willmore than triple, from 606 million

today to nearly 2 billion. Nearly onein four persons will be over 60 years

old and, for the first time in history,they will outnumber children. The

increase will be even more marked

among the oldest old, people 80years or over, who will rise from 69million today to 379 million in 2050,

more than a five-fold increase.7

In nearly all countries, women live

longer than men. The gap can be asmuch as 10.5 years in Eastern

Europe, and as low as 3 years in

March 2002 women2000

3

Myth: Ageing is not a concern

for developing countries,since most older people livein industrialized countries.

Reality: Although the propor-tion of older people toyounger ones is currentlyhigher in developed countries,the demographics of ageingare such that, by 2025, 75 percent of the 1.2 billion peopleover 60 years old will live indeveloping countries.

Myth: Older women in devel-oping countries are respectedand cared for within tradi-tional extended families.

Reality: Extended families aredeclining in many parts of thedeveloping world, as youngpeople move to the cities andestablish nuclear families.Even where extended familiesare still the norm, they areshowing the strains of longerlife expectancy and greater

care burdens. As a result,many older women are livingalone, in all parts of the world.

Myth: Older women are likelyto be weak, frail or disabled asa direct result of the ageingprocess.

Reality: The highest toll onolder bodies occurs as a resultof poverty over many years,

not ageing itself. Conditions

such as anaemia or osteo-porosis can disable men andwomen, but can be avoidedwith good nutrition andproper exercise. With access tohealth care throughout the lifecycle, women can stay healthyand active into very old age.

Myth: Older women areunproductive and a burden oncommunities and societies,especially on the younger

working-age population.Reality: Most womenpartic-ularly in countries that lackcomprehensive and equitablepension systemscontinueto work well into old age, sup-porting themselves, theirfamilies, and often theirgrandchildren and great-grandchildren. In addition tothe millions of women whoremain in the paid workforce,there are millions more whoare unpaid workersfamily

and community leaders, care-givers, advisers, teachers, vol-unteers. In both paid andunpaid work, their contribu-tion to society and the econ-omy is vital.

____________Sources: HelpAge International,www.helpage.org/info/myths.html;World Bank, Averting the Old Age Crisis.New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.

Myths and facts on gender and ageing


4/20

South-Central Asia. In developed

regions, women live some 7.5 yearslonger than men, whereas in Latin

America, their advantage is about 6.5years.8 Women make up 55 per centof older people globally, with women

to men ratios increasing with age.Among the oldest old today, 65 per

cent are women. These proportionsshould remain relatively unchanged

over the next 50 years.9

Population age structure varies

greatly from region to region. Today,for example, while one out of five

Europeans is 60 years or older, onlyone out of 20 Africans is in this agegroup. However, while population

ageing has been occurring over along period in developed countries,

particularly in Japan, the UnitedStates and Europe, it is occurring

most rapidly in the developing world.

Moreover, while the proportion of

older people in the population as awhole is greatest in developed coun-

tries, the numbers are higher in lessdeveloped countries, where almosttwo thirds of people over 60 years of

age now live. By 2050 this populationis expected to quadruple, from 374

million to 1.6 billion.10

The majority of older people (51

per cent) live in cities. The rural-urbansplit is greatest in developed coun-tries, where 74 per cent of older peo-

ple live in urban areas. In less devel-oped regions, which are still largely

agricultural, 63 per cent of older peo-ple live in rural areas.11

As societies are beginning toadjust to the projected future of

larger numbers of older people andsmaller numbers of younger ones,who have historically comprised the

support base, new forms of socialprotection for older people are

needed. Countries also need to findbetter ways for tapping the potentialcontribution to development of large

numbers of older people.Ageing is thus making its way onto

public policy agendas. Developedcountries have focused largely on the

challenges of caring for larger num-bers of older people with fewer peo-ple of working age. By contrast,

most developing countries continueto rely exclusively on the extended

family to take care of the dependentelderly.

Changing family structures

At first glance, this approach might

seem appropriate. In most of the

developing world, elders areaccorded special respect and statusin societytheir wisdom combined

with the strength of the young tosustain the extended family.Traditionally, families were thus both

honoured and obligated to care fortheir older members, who also con-

tributed to the household in variousways, including advice and leader-

ship as well as the care of young


4

Old age was memorably

characterized by Shakespearein the late sixteenth centuryas a second childhood, sansteeth, sans eyes, sans taste,sans everything. However,Shakespeares haunting imagemay be more true of later cen-turies than his own, since atthat time most people simplyworked until they died, gener-ally by the age of 30 or 40.Ageing is a continuum from

birth to death, but old agebecame a meaningful cate-gory in eighteenth centuryEurope, following the Indus-trial Revolution. People over acertain age began to be seenas less productive thanyounger workers, then gradu-ally as old, or no longer fitfor work. As older people wereleft without adequate meansof support, over time reform-ers demanded pensions and

social security systems. Thesein turn required a standardage of retirement, and old age

became linked to the age ofretirement.

The United Nations de-fines older people as those 60years of age and over, and theoldest old as those over 80

years of age. Definitions vary

in different regions and coun-tries. At a recent meeting inAfrica the debate about whereto put the threshold wasintense, with representativesarguing for as low as 45 andas high as 70; ultimately,however, they agreed to se-lect 60+, as per the UnitedNations standard.

In poorer countries, espe-cially those with large agri-

cultural populations and with-out formal social securitysystems, old age is not linkedto retirement, but to the pointwhen ones ability to con-tribute actively to survival fal-ters. This too has genderimplications, since researchindicates that among very oldpeople, men cease economicactivities completely whilewomen do not, instead engag-ing in activities such as petty

trading, hairstyling or caringfor young children to secure

basic needs.

____________Sources: Suzanne S. Paul and JamesA. Paul, Humanity Comes of Age (NewYork, World Council of Churches, 1994),pp. 6-7; and ILO, Realizing Decent Workfor Older Women Workers (Geneva, ILO,2001).

Who is old?


5/20

children and the transmission of val-

ues to the younger generation.In Sub-Saharan Africa, for exam-

ple, women traditionally enjoyed sta-tus in their later years as healers orteachers of traditional skills. Their

childbearing years over, they hadmore independence and became

less subject to male authority. Inextended families in South Asia,

older women could expect theirsons to defer to them and theirdaughters-in-law to follow their

instructions on how to run thehousehold. Many still can, of course,

but in general, the role of matri-arch is eroding everywhere.

Larger trends affect family struc-tures and traditional support sys-

tems for older people in general,and the social status of olderwomen in particular. The changing

roles of women, urbanization andmigration, along with education and

employment, the ravages ofHIV/AIDS, natural disasters andarmed conflict in many places, and

everywhere, and the influence ofthe mass media, are reshaping the

perils and potential of ageing forwomen.

The urban population more thandoubled worldwide between 1950and 1975 and increased another 55

per cent from 1975 to 1990.Throughout the developing world,

families and traditional cultureshave been affected by the process

of urbanization. In most places, theolder generation tended to stay in

the countryside, often caring for thechildren of those who had gone tocities and urban areas.12 In a review

of demographic change and family

support systems in developingcountries, a report by the Inter-national Institute on Ageing (INIA)

concluded that, despite enormousvariability, it is fair to say that thelatter half of the twentieth century

has been characterized by declininghousehold size and a trend toward

the nuclear family, two parentscaring solely for their own chil-

dren.13

Change in family structures is

faster in the cities. A study of fami-lies and family care in Sub-Saharan

Africa concluded that while theextended family type still prevails inmost countries, it is changing every-

where, especially in the cities,where different lifestyles lead more

and more young people to adopt themodel of the nuclear family. Thus

the practice of co-residence of olderpeople with their children is declin-ing: Rising out-migration combined

with declining fertility rates make itinevitable that the ideal of a multi-

generational household will becomemore and more difficult for elderly

men and women to attain.14

Migration also affects family struc-

tures. In recent years, more andmore younger women have migratedto the cities as opportunities there

increased, but also in response toeconomic hardship. Today, in both

Latin America and the Caribbean,women outnumber men in the cities,while men outnumber women in the

rural areas.15 In both Sub-SaharanAfrica and Southern Asia, the reverse

is true.In countries with traditional sup-

port systems, the number ofwomen living alone is much lowerthan in developed countries, but still

higher among women than men.This is due to a number of factors,

including the fact that women livelonger than men, they tend to marry

older men and outlive them, andthey are less likely to remarry upon

the death of a spouse. Lower fertil-ity rates reduce the availability ofclose kin in old age. These factors,

together with changing family pat-

terns, will leave future generationsof women living alone without a for-mal system to support them when

they become dependent.Shifts in living arrangements are

due partly to delayed marriage and

changing roles for women, but alsoto increasing divorce rates and grow-

ing numbers of older people whosespouses have died. The trend is not

limited to industrialized countries. In

Burundi, for example, an examination

of United Nations data showed thatthe largest number of older persons

live in one-person households.16

Between one fifth and one third ofolder people in some Caribbean

countries live alone, similar to levelsin some European countries.17

Older women everywhere, at alllevels of society and in all forms of

living arrangements, can be sub-jected to abuse and violence. Suchabuse takes many forms, including

physical, emotional and financial,and neglect. Most often, the perpe-

trators are family members and pri-mary caregivers, but it also occurs in

institutional care facilities. Thosemost at risk are older women with

mental or physical impairments.Poverty, childlessness, social isola-tion and displacement also put older

women at risk for abuse, as dodependency and loss of autonomy.

Widowhood: a growing

category

Widowhood for women over age60 is most prevalent in Northern

Africa and Central Asia and lowestin Latin America and the Caribbean.In developing countries as a whole,

much lower percentages of menthan women are widowed, and

married men outnumber widowersamong older populations. At ages

65 and over, widows outnumbermarried women in most developing

countries, often by a factor of twoor more, while by age 75 andabove, the female widowed-to-

married ratio rises beyond 5 to 1 in

some countries.18Adjusting to widowhood can be

difficult in all societies, but more so

in developing countries, particularlyin Africa and Asia. Womens inheri-tance rights are tenuous in many

countries. Family resources, includ-ing the house, the land and all the

money, may be assigned to a malerelative, often along with the widow

herself. Widows also suffer a loss


5


6/20

of status, leaving them vulnerable

to social isolation and depressionalong with discrimination and even

physical violence. In South Asia,restrictions on mobility and associa-tion make it hard for women to

overcome isolation once they arewidowed. As the United Nations

Population Fund (UNFPA) com-ments in its State of the World

Population 1998: Widowhood ismore than the loss of a husbandit may mean the loss of a separate

identity.19

GENDER, AGEINGAND CAREGIVING

Despite the strains on traditionalsupport systems caused by migra-tion and urbanization, community

expectations that the family willtake care of its older members

remain strong in most parts of thedeveloping world. In Mexico, where

the myth of the stable and respon-sible family is regarded as part ofthe national soul, older people

feel that if they are not cared for by

their children they must have done

something wrong. This is especiallytrue of older women, who feel they

are poor mothers if their children donot support them.20

In some instances, strains will be

greatest where older people are liv-ing with their adult children. It

increases as people live longer,because their care generally con-

sumes a greater share of householdtime and income, and often rein-forces older peoples view of them-

selves as a burden.In most countries in Africa, for

example, the expectations of fam-ily care for older people fall first on

spouses, then on sons, since theyinherit the land and remain geo-

graphically close. Older women inparticular depend on their sons,because if they divorce or become

widowed, land tenure or land-userights established through their

husbands can be suspended andbe re-established only through theirsons. Daughters are next in line for

caregiving, although once they aremarried, their primary responsibili-

ties are to their husbands families.Siblings are regarded as a poor

third choice, followed by the com-munity.Because women typically marry

men who are older than they are,and because of womens higher life

expectancy, old men often haveyounger wives to care for them.

This is not true for old women, ashusbands die earlier and also need

care earlier. As a consequence,those most at risk of destitution inold age are older single (never mar-

ried or divorced), widowed and

childless women. In Kenya, forexample, traditional norms requirewomen to have at least two sons in

order to be worthy of support.Those without children are evenworse off, often being forced to

leave their homes to avoid accusa-tions of witchcraft.21

The plight of destitute old womenis not unique to Africa. In India and

Bangladesh, where care for older


6

About 10 per cent of women inIndia are widows, compared toonly 3 per cent of men,according to the 1991 census.Fifty-four per cent of womenaged 60 and over are widows,as are 12 per cent of womenaged 35-59. Remarriage is theexception rather than the rule;only about 10 per cent of wid-ows marry again.

Widowers do not suffer thesocial stigma, restrictions andtaboos associated with widows.They retain their economicresources and are more likelyto remarry. In contrast, theapproximately 33 millionIndian widows are expected tolead chaste, austere and asceticlives. Meeting those expecta-tions is possible only for

women who come from house-holds prosperous enough tocare for a dependent widow.Reports describe brothers-in-law who usurp the widowsshare of property and do notoffer her a harvest share ordaily maintenance; sons wholive separately and do not sup-

port the widowed mother; andbrothers who do not supportthe widowed sister, althoughthey inherited her share oftheir fathers property.

Widows survival strategiesrun the gamut. If they ownland, they may be able toadopt a son or negotiate a

daughters marriage to a manwilling to support them. Someremarry or enter partnershipswith men who offer support.Some enter the wage labourforce, while others continue towork in small-scale farming,trading or producing goods forsale. Those with no resourcesmay adopt a religious way oflife, living from begging,chanting prayers or singingdevotional songs. Alterna-

tively, they become prostitutesor concubines to earn enoughmoney to live.

____________Source: Martha Alter Chen, PerpetualMourning: Widowhood in Rural India.Oxford University Press, 2000, excerptedin United Nations, The Worlds Women2000, Trends and Statistics (New York,United Nations, 2000).

Widowhood in India


7/20

widows is a primary duty for chil-

dren, a rapid increase in elderlyabandoned women has emerged as

a critical issue in urban areas.22

Even in the past, family care ofolder people worked better for men

than for women. Research on theJoola society of Senegal and

Guinea-Bissau describes a tradi-tional old-age support system

based on daughters and daughters-in-law taking on more work as theolder people become too weak to

do it. But while the old man is thenfree from work, the old woman

takes on new tasks, looking afterthe animals, making baskets and

other household items. As a result,a proverb says that a man gets old,

but not a woman.23

In fact, even as women livelonger, their caregiving duties do

not end. This has long been true ofwomen in rural areas, who are fre-

quently responsible to care forgrandchildren as their own childrenmigrate to the cities in search of

work. In recent years, the impact ofHIV/AIDS, greatest among people

ages 18 to 40, has magnified thissituation. In some places, virtually

an entire generation has been lostto the disease. As a result, olderpeople, particularly older women,

are now caring for a new generationof young children.

In poorer countries with weakhealth infrastructure, the responsi-

bilities of care commonly fall on thefamily, primarily older women. By

2001, over five million grandparentsin Africa were caring for young chil-dren as a result of the epidemic. It

is not unusual for grandmothers to

be caring for 20 children, a RedCross and Red Crescent Societiespress release stated in November

2001. A study in Thailand found thattwo thirds of adults living withHIV/AIDS returned to live with a par-

ent, usually the mother, and thatwomen in their 60s and 70s were

the most common caregivers.24

Older women themselves are also

becoming infected, either as a result

of caregiving activities with minimal

protection measures, or throughsexual transmission, including sex-

ual violence.However, education and informa-

tion about the disease is rarely tar-

geted at older women. When itstrikes, it is frequently misdiag-

nosed. Older people succumb tothe disease more quickly, owing to

weaker immune systems. Whenwomen get sick first, they are oftenabandoned, or sent back to their

families. When the husband getssick, the wife is expected to care

for him.

GENDER, SOCIALPROTECTION ANDHEALTH

The ageing of populations worldwiderequires that Governments devise

policies to take care of growing num-bers of older citizens. In the industri-

alized world, where population age-ing started over a century ago,State-sponsored systems of support,

including pensions and health care,

have been developed, and todaymost elderly rely on such formal sys-tems. However, women have less

access to formal pensions. Their par-ticipation in the paid labour force isshorter, more irregular and more

likely to be in the informal sector.Social security was created for the

benefit of the wage earner and mostoften does not recognize the value of

household work and child-rearing,

thus disadvantaging women in old

age.With the ageing of populations,

spending for public pensions indeveloped countries will increasedramatically, and the present pay-

as-you-go systems of funding pen-sions have come under scrutiny.

Many countries have started todevelop private pension plans to

complement public support sys-tems. There are also attempts tobring care back to the family and

community, and some new initia-tives stress informal caregiving as

the main pillar of support in old age.Such shifts from public support

back to families increase demandon informalunpaidcaregivers.

All over the world, these caregiversare mainly women, caught in themiddle of the needs of their chil-

dren and their ageing parents, andhaving to cope with the burdens of

caregiving, household work and theworkplace.

Retiring from work is an unimag-

inable luxury for many older per-sons. Although 155 countries cur-

rently have some kind of publicsystem for old age, disability or sur-

vivor support, these cover only 30per cent of all people over 60; andonly 40 per cent of working-age peo-

ple contribute.26 In most developingcountries, no more than 20 per cent

of the labour force is included in0regular social security systems.

Coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa andSouth Asia is estimated at 5 to 10

per cent of the working population.Elsewhere it varies greatly, rangingfrom 5 to 80 per cent in Latin

America and between 10 and

almost 100 per cent in South-Eastand East Asia. But a large portion ofthis population is covered for only a

few contingencies. And people whohave been working in the informaleconomy, predominantly women,

are likely to have very low or noincomes in old age.27

In Africa, only Botswana, Mau-ritius, Namibia and South Africa

have some sort of pension support


7

Due to the gender-specific divi-

sion of labour, women often have

to care for older relatives . . . and

then their husbands throughout

their life cycle, and when they

need help after a life full of hard

work, there is no one left to care

for them.25


8/20

for older people. Elsewhere, some

of the ways in which women makeends meet are to rent parts of their

homes, sell water to those who donot have running water and trade incharcoal and vegetables.

In Asia the situation is betterbut only slightly. Although Gov-

ernments have begun to developwelfare policies for older people,

including livelihood protection, theexpenditures are very small. Even inmore prosperous countries, such as

China, Hong Kong, the Republic ofKorea or Singapore, Governments

encourage reliance on the family forsupport of the aged. For example, in

1995, Singapore introduced theMaintenance of Parents Act, whichallows parents to sue neglectful off-

spring for financial support.29

Even where some assistance is

available, older people often en-counter obstacles in obtaining it,

ranging from transport difficulties tobureaucratic barriers. In Egypt,

where a social security system wasset up in 1950, few people knowhow to access its provisions.30 The

same is true in India, where 33 per

cent of older people live below thepoverty line, with an equal numberonly just above it. Without the

safety net of social protection, age-ing brings with it reduced rights tofood, health, transport, housing,

sanitation and other basic servi-ces.31

Currently, a number of develop-ing countries are considering mak-

ing contributory pension schemes


8

Clad in a faded, red Maasaishuka, frail and tired Sophia

Nairoto shouts at the half-naked two-year-old boy whocomes running into the hut.Handed a bowl of thick brownporridge, he inspects it beforesinking onto the cow-dungfloor to tuck in.

At 75, Nairoto has pickedup a role she discarded morethan 40 years ago. She is nowthe mother of five orphans

between two and ten yearsoldtheir parents both claimed

by AIDS. In fact, due to theAIDS epidemic, which hasdepleted thousands of Kenyasworking-age populationclearing out almost the entireeconomically productive mid-dle generation in certain partsof the countryNairoto is justone of many grandmotherswho has stepped into the shoesof her dead sons and daugh-ters. It is a very difficult taskahead of me. I dont think Iwill survive to see my grand-children into adulthood, shesays.

Nairoto lives in the Kajiadodistrict of Kenyas Rift Valley.But her tale reflects whatmany older women in Kenyaare going through. Stories likehers are particularly commonin Nyanza, the province hithardest by the epidemic. Inone small village, ten-year-old

Mary Anyango, Oloo Otienoand Calistus Akelo have alllost their parents to AIDS and,with five other siblings, have

been taken in by their grand-mothers.

The World Health Organ-ization (WHO) estimates thatabout 1.7 million Kenyans are

infected with the AIDS virus,the vast majority in the 18- to

40-year-old bracket. A recentsurvey by the Widows andWelfare Society of Kenyashows that Nyanza provincealone holds more than390,000 AIDS orphans and100,000 widowspeople tradi-tionally dependent on middle-aged breadwinners. By 2005,Kenya will have 1 millionAIDS orphans, destroying thegenerational support systemand forcing the very young

and the very old to look afterthemselves and each other.

The effects of this missinggeneration are far-reaching.Older women frequently

become wage earners, in orderto support their grandchil-dren. For them, the doubleresponsibility of both return-ing to work and acting asmother can be a cripplingexperience. Monica Mwende,59, who looks after five grand-children says: I have a smallretail shop and a smallshamba (piece of land) fromwhere I get our daily bread.But it is a major financialstruggle to fend for the kidsand educate them.

Many older people alsocare for their own childrenwho have been struck down bythe virus. A survey in one dis-trict of Mashonaland in

Zimbabwe found that the car-ers of people with AIDS werewithout exception olderwomen, sometimes assisted byyounger female relatives.___________Source: Excerpted from Njeri Rugene,The Generation Gap, Orbit 73,a global development magazine:http://www.vso.org.uk/orbit

Grandmothers and AIDS orphans in Africa

I cannot die of hunger while

hanging on to heirlooms, says

Akoeba Gogo, hoping she will die

before she runs out of things to

sell.28


9/20

available to all workers, including

those in the informal sector.However, even small contributions

are beyond the means of the poorin many countries. Universal non-contributory pension programmes,

by contrast, can reach such groupsas unpaid caregivers, primarily

women, and women working in theinformal sector. Such programmes

may be feasible, and even minimalpensions can make important differ-ences to many generations within

families, as benefits also help tosupport the care and education of

grandchildren.32

In addition, older women face a

higher risk of chronic illness anddisability and women spend a

larger proportion of their lives inpoor health than older men. Whilethese differences are true in all

countries, the impact is greater inpoor countries, where health status

and standard of living are generallylower. The overall disadvantagewomen face is not caused solely by

the fact that they live longer thanmen. Older womens health prob-

lems are rooted in the discrimina-tion they face earlier in life.

During their younger years,many women have less access tonutrition and health care than men,

leading to chronic illness in old age.Poverty is one of the barriers older

women face in accessing the carethey need, especially where

Governments are reducing invest-ments in public health and welfare.

Physical access to medical servicesis a particular problem for womenin rural and remote areas. Health-

care systems can be biased against

providing services for older per-sons, giving preference to youngerage groups, and social barriers can

effectively exclude older womenfrom receiving care. Studies ingerontology are seeking to better

understand ageing and its genderdimensions, and programmes aim

at improving older womens accessto quality health care and preven-

tion.

MAKING WOMENSWORK VISIBLE

In urban Latin American households,

grandparents, especially grandmoth-ers, often take over the household

domestic responsibilities in order tofree the mother for productivework. By contrast, their own work

goes unrecognized, reinforcing theview of older people as unproductive

and needing support.34

In many countries, womensunpaid labour has increased in

recent years, as Governments cutspending or privatize social services

to meet fiscal goals in an increas-ingly global economy. In addition,

and throughout the world, regularfull-time wage employment is giv-ing way to more diverse patterns of

irregular work. Women are oftenthe preferred workers for these

types of jobs as they can be hiredfor lower wages with fewer or no

benefits and under less desirableworking conditions. As a result,

they enter their golden years inpoorer health, with more care bur-dens and smaller social security

allowances.

The failure to account for unpaidwork in subsistence farming, familyenterprises or domestic tasks

means womens work is also under-valued, even by women them-selves. When asked if they worked,

older women frequently said no,even though they spend most of

their days selling fruits or vegeta-bles in the market, or selling home-

prepared food in the street.35

As a result of the efforts by

womens advocates to account forwomens unpaid work in national

accounts, there is increased atten-tion to measuring such workthrough time-use surveys, which

show how much time men andwomen spend on unpaid care

labour, and how this compares withtime spent on market-oriented or

productive work.

Credit for unpaid work

Also in response to efforts to getGovernments to document and value

womens unpaid work, a number ofcountries have recently adopted

measures to enhance social protec-tion for women independently frompaid work.

Germany, Norway, Sweden andSwitzerland, for example, have ini-

tiated a system of caring credits,by which an individuals retirementaccount is credited with contribu-

tions for the relevant period of careactivity. Ireland and the United

Kingdom have adopted a variant ofthis known as home responsibili-

ties protection, which provides foryears of low or no earningsto be dropped from the calculation

of pension amounts. Anotherapproach, implemented in Finland,

uses home childcare allowances,which in effect transform the work

into a form of non-market paidwork.

A SOCIETY FOR ALL AGES

In setting out a framework in whichto explore the theme of the 1999Year of Older Persons, A society for

all ages, the United Nations Pro-gramme on Ageing declared in 1998:The potential of added years is

bringing to the fore a dynamic thatviews ageing with a resourceful,

active and engaging pulse. Themounting involvement of older per-

sons in all areas of life, be it cultural,


9

In taking on the responsibility ofcare, older people all over the

world are freeing other people to

undertake paid work. In this way

they are actively contributing to

economic development, even if

they are not wage earners them-

selves.33HelpAge International


10/20

political, economic, social or spiritual,

is seen as essential to the progres-sion of any society.36

The seeds for this conclusion wereplanted 20 years ago in the Interna-tional Plan of Action, agreed at the

First World Conference on Ageing inVienna, Austria (1982). The Plan rec-

ognized that the slowly expandinglifespan of the population even in de-

veloping areas constitutes a hidden re-source for national economies . . . .The Conference agreed that the task

ahead was to transform the status ofolder people into one of active par-

ticipants in national life and produc-tion, rather than as passive and vul-

nerable victims of development.37

Wherever sweeping changes are

transforming societies, social and cul-tural re-evaluations take place.Population ageing is such a change,

and demands such re-evaluation.Most people over 60 are healthy and

want to remain active socially, if noteconomically, and would gladly con-tinue in paid work. And most women

never stop working, whether theyare paid or not. Can policies be devel-

oped that enable societies to addlife to years? In many places, this is

happening.In China, for example, policymakers have long assumed that

womenincluding older womenwould necessarily contribute to the

countrys development effort.While many women did not wel-

come the more strenuous tasks,such as fieldwork, they nonethe-

less advanced Chinese progresssignificantly. Today, people ineligi-ble for pensions are encouraged to

engage in small-scale private enter-

prises, selling clothing and smallwares in urban areas, cultivatingprivate plots and raising livestock in

the countryside. The Governmentalso encourages older women toproduce home-based goods, such

as handicrafts. Indeed, both facto-ries and research institutes have

employed older women, even veryold women, to help revive embroi-

dery traditions and other artisan

skills that would otherwise die

outand for which demand isincreasing in China and abroad.38

The same is true of other indige-nous arts, ranging from carpet-weaving in Turkey to batiks and bas-

ketry in Africa and South Asia and tojewellery in Latin America. To take

advantage of increasing tourism,women engaged in handicrafts

often older womenneed technicaland financial support. Most such ven-tures require little start-up capital, but

a good deal of expertise in identify-ing markets, along with help in set-

ting up cooperatives to meetimporters orders. Work can beand

isdone at home. A fair number ofolder women now run brisk, prof-

itable craft businesses in Egypt,Ghana and elsewhere.39

Women play a significant role in

the informal savings associationsthat bridge the gap between small

enterprises and formal banking serv-ices throughout Sub-Saharan Africa,as well as vast areas of South and

South-East Asia, Latin America andthe Caribbean. In Shama, a commu-

nity in Ghana, for example, a groupof older women sought the assist-

ance of HelpAge International innegotiating a loan for younger mem-bers of the community to set up

microenterprises. In this way theyovercame the problem of access to

formal banking services that peoplein poor countries often face, and also

brought the longer-term support ofan international non-governmental

organization into the community. Andthey greatly enhanced their own sta-tus and position in that community.40

Food processing also offers

opportunities for mixed age groupsof women working together, espe-cially in rural areas. Such enterprises

show not only how older ruralwomen can be integrated into casheconomies, but also how microen-

terprise can foster interregionaltrade.41 While economic benefits

may be small, they can be signifi-cant particularly to those who

receive them. Perhaps even more

important are the social and psy-

chological benefits that accrue towhole societies seeking new forms

of cohesion in a changing world.

Cultivating diversity

In many parts of the developingworld, older women remain the cus-

todians of indigenous knowledge,increasingly important as researchersseek new ways to improve food sup-

plies, safeguard natural resourcesand treat such diseases as cancer

and HIV/AIDS. On the Kenyan shoreof Lake Victoria throughout the

1970s and early 1980s, scientistsworked side by side with older

women of the area to map newstrategies for the organic control ofagricultural pests and animal and

human disease vectors. In India andNepal, biologists have included older

women, often of backward castesand ethnic groups, to explore speciesdiversity in woodlands and other

threatened environments.42 Andolder female rice-farmers have con-

tributed to the development of high-yield, protein-rich strains, working

with agricultural research institutes incountries such as Colombia, CtedIvoire and the Philippines.43

Few of these endeavours targetedolder women as such. Nonetheless, in

one way or another, they all reflect theneed to include all stakeholders and to

develop new forms of reciprocity at alllevels of societies the world over,

thereby taking advantage of theinvestment opportunities and require-ments that an ageing developing

world presents.44 Such patterns of

intergenerational exchange allowsolder women to maintain their statusand roles in the family and community,

and in society at large. They also rec-ognize them as assets and fountainsof knowledge rather than perpetuating

negative images of older women asburdens. A better understanding of the

contribution older women make to thewell-being of societies will also

strengthen multigenerational ties.


10


11/20

Rethinking work

and retirement

What does it mean that in 2050 thepopulation of older persons will belarger than the population of chil-

dren? From a life-cycle perspectivethis means that the estimated 2 bil-

lion older persons in 2050 are todayschildren, and it is their experiences

now, and throughout adulthood, thatwill prepare them for later life.45

In addition to social security and

pension schemes, policies to ensurewomens financial security in later

years must also focus on improvingopportunities for older women to

continue working in the paid work-force.

In the United States, for example,womens financial security in old ageoften depends on extending their

working lives. The ranks of olderworkers are increasingly female as

we continue to work, just as we didin middle age, for a variety of rea-sons, concludes one survey of work

and older women. Reasons rangefrom the need to make ends meet or

to build pensions in their own namesto the satisfaction many take in their

work and the status it brings to fam-ilies and communities. Between1990 and 1996 the proportion of

working married women age 55 to64 increased from 36 per cent to

nearly 50 per cent. Increasinglygreater proportions of women are

now employed into their 50s and60s.46

The conclusion seems clear: justas gender-based disadvantagesaccumulate over the life cycle, so do

the benefits of greater opportuni-

ties. Investing in education, trainingand health for women at all stagesof the life cycle has cumulative pay-

offs in later years. This is especiallyimportant for developing countries,where the largest number of people

are currently of working age, thatis, 15 to 60 years. This demo-

graphic bonusmeaning a greaternumber of working people than

people who are dependent (both

younger and older)opens a win-dow of opportunity to improve the

lives of older people in later years,provided that Governments use itwisely.47 Wise use includes invest-

ing in people of all ages, eliminatingdiscrimination and closing the

opportunity gaps between womenand menin health, education and

employment.

Investing in people

of all ages

Since the publication of its study onlife-long education, Learning to Be,

in 1972, the United NationsEducational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO) has advo-cated education from the cradle to

the grave. This means not only


11

alternatives in Peru . . .

For over 100 older women,home is a decaying palacein Perus second city ofArequipa. No one knowswhen, but over the years,groups of older women havecome in off the street to livethere and have created theirown form of group care. Thereare no care staff or nurses;each of the women cares forthe next, to the best of herability.

Despite the somewhat pre-carious nature of the dilapi-dated buildings, these womenhave created their ownlifestyle. Many of the womenare very old indeed, yet thestrong look after the weak,and the healthy look after thesick. The women have theirindependence and theirfriendships and it is these thatthey value above all else.Thanks to a local NGO, thewomen now have a communalcook and a limited supply offoodstuffs. Their sense of com-munal pride extends to a cen-tral garden, a kitchen and achapel. The older women ofArequipa have proved thatpoor older women are able tochoose their own forms ofcare.

. . . and the Philippines

Aurelia Dacaymat, age 66,migrated to the capital,Manila, from her home in thecountryside. She had already

joined a community organiza-tion that was petitioning theGovernment to give land overto the urban poor, when acommunity organizer arrivedto talk to her about organizingolder people in the commu-nity. Like many Filipinas,Aurelia thought that older

people were well taken care ofby their families. But after vis-iting house after house, sherealized that although theolder people were still re-spected, they were not as wellcared for as before. She sawnot just street children butstreet elderly begging at traf-fic lights and sleeping in theparks.

That was in February 1991.Today, Aurelia is president ofa community organization forolder people and helps othersto start their own pro-grammes. Of herself she says:I am only second-grade edu-cated, but I think I have readdeeply from the book of life.__________Source: Reprinted from HelpAgeInternational, Older Women inDevelopment, 1995.

Taking action


12/20

offering literacy classes and other

skills instruction to older peopleincluding in information and commu-

nications technologies (ICTs) duringthe last decadebut using older peo-ple as a learning resource for com-

munities at large in both developedand developing countries. It involves

bringing them into formal educationalinstitutions at many levels to teach as

well as to learn.Increasingly, ICTs are becoming an

integral part of lifelong learning in the

emerging global knowledge-basedeconomy. Women have already

demonstrated their ability to obtainjobs in this sector, especially in devel-

oping countries. Older women toocan benefit from mastering the new

skills required, particularly as thetechnology enables them to work intheir homes, eliminating the need for

transport and allowing more flexiblework schedules.

Many small-scale projects im-proved their success by using ICTs tolink artisans and producers with mar-

kets worldwide. Sapphire Women inKampala, Uganda, is an organization

that supports women and childrenwho have lost family members to

HIV/AIDS. Its members weave tradi-tional Ugandan baskets which arethen sold online with the help of

PeopLink, an American-based non-governmental organization that spe-

cializes in online sales of handicrafts.SEWA, an organization of self-

employed women in India, was oneof the first to realize the potential of

ICTs to assist women in the informalsector. By organizing computer-awareness programmes and teach-

ing basic computer skills, SEWA has

enabled women to launch their ownweb sites and sell their products onthe global market.48

Finding new worlds

As younger women enter the paid

labour force in greater numbersaround the world, the demand for

help with household work and child-

care rises, attracting less skilled

women to cities, at home andabroad. One result is a shift in the

once circular pattern of migration, inwhich migrants sought to returnhome in later life. In Latin America

and the Caribbean, for example,where women have long been part

of the migrant stream, most urbanmigrants stay in the cities in their old

age and continue to support them-selves by workingin both the for-mal or informal sectors.49

A study of older Cypriot andTurkish women who had migrated to

France, Germany and the UnitedKingdom in the 1950s and 1960s pro-

vides insight into the reasons olderwomen choose not to return home.

Many had found jobs in the publicsector, allowing them to accumulatepension and health benefits. These,

however small, gave them a degreeof autonomy in negotiating with their

husbands and relatives and empow-ered them to make their own choicesfor their old age. They reported that

without the added pressure of theirtraditional community, their hus-

bands were less able to control theirdecisions, especially about work.

Older migrant women also reportedhaving achieved positions of status intheir new communities, where they

kept alive language and culturalmemory and were skilled in negoti-

ating with the dominant culture.Some chose a form of itinerant

retirement, moving between theirold and new homes. They kept in

touch with grandchildren andenjoyed being able to live their livesindependent of male relatives.50

Older women are drawing on

their ability to mediate between fam-ily and the wider society. In France,for example, a group of older

women who were originally fromAfrica came together to mediateintercultural conflicts. Among these

were tensions over polygamy andarranged marriages as well as those

that arise when the man reachesretirement and wants to return

home while his wife and children

want to stay.51 Such changing

expectations present additional chal-lenges for ageing policy.

Older women in conflict

and post-conflict situations

Recently, older womens importantroles in situations of national and

regional conflict, as well as in post-conflict development, have gainedgreater recognition and visibility.

The Mano River Union WomensPeace Network, for example, head-

quartered in South Africa and ledlargely by older women, has met with

heads of State to resolve the strifethat has embroiled Liberia and Sierra

Leone since the mid-1990s. TheNetwork has spurred a variety ofefforts to re-establish governance at

the grass-roots level, often using tra-ditional cultural links; to treat trauma

victims, especially children; to rehabil-itate physical infrastructure and nat-ural resources; and to develop the

entrepreneurial skills of both urbanand rural women in all three countries.

In Cambodia, where so much ofthe past has been destroyed, older

people have been critical in helpingcommunities hold on to their historyand impart it to younger generations.

An oral history project features thememories of an older generation

through successive years of conflict,going back to the struggle for inde-

pendence. In one video, an olderwoman talks about the hardships

they endured under the KhmerRouge regime, headed by Pol Pot: Itell my children about Pol Pots time

so that they know about the diffi-

culties we faced, she says.Sometimes they ask me: Is it trueabout Pol Pot? I tell them its true.52

The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo inArgentina became one of the mostvisible groups of women to demon-

strate for public accountability.Founded in 1977, they demanded

information about the fate of theirchildren who were rounded up by the

military junta and disappeared. As


12


13/20

the bodies of their children have

never been found, these humanrights activists are still demonstrat-

ing. Today they are also Grand-mothers of the Disappearedseek-ing over 200 children born to their

own children while in captivity orwho disappeared with their parents

after being taken into custody. Sincethen their stories have been told on

television and film documentariesand featured in magazines and NGOnewsletters. The group has been

honoured by international humanrights groups as well as UNESCO

and the European Parliament. As aresult, they have inspired the forma-

tion of other groups of mothers andgrandmothers seeking justice and

healing after conflict.

IMAGES OF AGEING

The experience of the Mothers ofPlaza de Mayo shows that mediacan make older women visible as

well as invisible, not only locally butglobally. We have a very emble-

matic image of older women,namely the Grandmothers of Plaza

de Mayo. Initially nicknamed by thethree military juntas as the crazygrandmothers of Plaza de Mayo,

they have become recognizedaround the world for their unfalter-

ing search for their sons, daughtersand illegally appropriated grandchil-

dren. They clearly represent a grand-mother role . . . 53

A positive image of ageing is aprerequisite for ensuring multigener-ational cohesion in society. Over the

years, images of ageing, primarily in

developed countries, have dispro-portionately portrayed older personsas a growing population group with

escalating needs, who are vulner-able and frail, and a burden withwhom nobody wants to identify. But

as societies learn more about theirreal lives, public images of older per-

sons as individuals with significantcapabilities and contributions to

make are becoming rooted in the

public mind. These changes aregreatly helped as older persons

themselves are becoming moreactive and visible in society and in

policy-making processes.Older women today are organiz-

ing in different ways to make theircontributions visible, going to con-

ferences and writing about theirwork on the Internet. National,regional and global networks, such

as the American Association of

Retired Persons (AARP), the OlderWomens Network (OWN) inEurope, and HelpAge International,

headquartered in London withregional centres in Africa, Asia andthe Pacific, East and Central Europe,

Latin America and the Caribbean, allhold regular conferences and main-

tain active web sites that link peopleand groups together worldwide.

Successful advocacy merits media

attention and inspires replication. InFrance, for example, a group of older

women have formed an NGO calledthe Panthres Grises France, after

meeting and becoming friends withthe woman who founded the Grey

Panthers in the United States.Particularly important in making

older women visible is research doneby older women about older women.Findings can provide a good advocacy

tool, persuading media and the public

of the need for policy change. Thefirst step is enabling people to exam-ine their lives and those of people like

them. In a largely working class areain England, for example, a group ofolder women carried out a survey of

older women homeowners. They dis-covered that few were aware of

services they could access, includinghome-repair assistance, financial

advice or free gas checks. Many


13

If advertising drives the mediaimages of women, including

older women, why haventthese changed as so manywomen grow older? In fact,these images are changing,slowlybut mainly in re-sponse to older womens useof the economic and politicalpower they hold as a result oftheir growing ranks.

In 1999, to promote theInternational Year of OlderPersons, the Australian gov-

ernment partnered with thebusiness community to pro-mote more positive images.Working with the Body Shop,a socially conscious globalcosmetics firm, it designed acampaign based on the imageof Ruby, a round-figured dollcreated in 1996 as an alterna-tive to the super-thin Barbiedoll. To represent the olderwoman, the Body Shop aged

Ruby, adding wrinkles, sag-ging skin and grey hair. The

humorous tone of the cam-paign, using lines such asThe only way to avoid wrin-kles is to live in outer space ornever smile again, andAgeing doesnt matter unlessyoure a cheese, stirred con-troversy and demands formore serious attention. Whatwe did then is to use a photo-graph of an older woman thatwas part of a high-profile andcontroversial photographicexhibit in Australia and usedthe copy line, Look past thewrinkles, says the coalitionscampaign manager. Andthats worked really well.

__________Source: Images of Older Women in theMedia, UN Radio Interview of Panelistson Older Women in the Media, 14October 1999, in AARP, The Impact ofGlobalization on the Images of OlderWomen (New York, 1999).

Look past the wrinkles


14/20

were lonely and most wanted moresocial activities. In carrying out and

publicizing their study, they formednew friendships, and also discoveredthat their perspectives count. While

they are not formal researchers, theyhave a lifetime of experience and

common sense behind them thatunderpin their activities.54

KEEPING GENDER ANDAGEING ON THE AGENDA

Over the last two decades, the inter-

national community has sought tointegrate the needs of ageing popula-tions into the framework of sustain-

able development. The 1982 WorldAssembly on Ageing was a ground-breaking year for advancing the issue

of ageing. The slowly expandinglifespan of the population even in

developing areas constitutes a hiddenresource for national economies

which, if properly stimulated and util-

ized, might help to . . . ensure the sta-tus of [older persons] as active par-

ticipants in national life and produc-tion, rather than as passive andvulnerable victims of develop-

ment.55 Soon thereafter, at the closeof the Decade for Women in 1985,

the Nairobi Forward-lookingStrategies for the Advancement of

Women stated, Ageing, as a stageof development, is a challenge for

women. In this period of life, womenshould be enabled to cope in a cre-ative way with new opportunities.

Over the following decade, popu-

lation ageing was integrated into thedevelopment framework through aseries of UN conferences on the envi-

ronment, population, social develop-ment and women. At the same time,research and awareness on the inter-

action of gender and ageing wasgrowing worldwide. Thus, the 1992

Rio Declaration on Environment andDevelopment, adopted at the United

Nations Conference on Environment

and Development, while not address-

ing the status of older persons as agroup, recognized the need to com-

bine environmental concerns andpopulation issues within a develop-ment framework devoted to poverty

alleviation, sustainable livelihoods,health and quality of life, as well as

womens empowerment and genderequality.

Two years later, at the 1994International Conference on Popu-lation and Development in Cairo, advo-

cates for older people worked closelywith womens groups to ensure that

references to older people wereincluded throughout the final Pro-

gramme of Action. The documentemphasized the need to provide long-

term support systems and to enhanceself-reliance mechanisms to serveolder persons, especially older

women. The following year, the WorldSummit for Social Development rec-

ognized the vulnerability of older per-sons, in terms of social exclusion,poverty and marginalization, and at the

same time stressed the positive con-tribution people of all ages can make

in building a harmonious society. Itunderlined the need to ensure that

older persons are integrated into theircommunities, as well as the impor-tance of meeting older womens

needs through social protection andsocial support programmes.56

These global policy documents arecomplemented by the 18 United

Nations Principles for Older Persons,promulgated in 1991. They provide

guidance to Governments to achieveolder persons independence, parti-cipation, care, self-fulfilment, security

and dignity. The General Assemblys

declaration of 1999 as the Inter-national Year of Older Personsfocused on the integration of older

people as a resource rather than aburden to society. Its theme,Towards a Society for All Ages,

was chosen to encourage contribu-tions and foster dialogue across all

generations.Attention to the needs of older

women reflects the growing aware-


14

Sybil Francis was born in

Jamaica in 1914. After manyyears of working in social andcommunity development, inthe late 1970s she began to cam-paign for the rights of older peo-ple in Jamaica, becoming chairof the National Council for theAged and vice chair of theJamaica Memory Bank in 1995.

Mrs. Francis first becameinvolved in ageing issueswhile researching new needsin society at the University ofthe West Indies. I could feelthat this was coming, sheexplains; there was a growingneed and people werentdoing very much about it.

However, she does notregard her experience as

unique. I know several people

who have changed theircareers late in life and goneon working well into their sev-enties and even eighties, shesays: I think its importantthat people recognize thatolder people are in the vastmajority of cases able to func-tion perfectly well and withvaluable experience to con-tribute for many years afterthey may have been expectedto have retired. So in that

respect I am happy to be seenas a positive representative ofthe older generation.

____________

Source: HelpAge International, OlderWomen in Development(London, 1995).

Leading by example: Jamaica


15/20

The Committee on theElimination of Discriminationagainst Women, which moni-tors implementation of theConvention in States parties,on 1 February 2002 adopted astatement addressed to theSecond World Assembly on

Ageing. This contribution bythe Committee, reflected below,aims at ending discriminationagainst older women throughthe Convention.

1. The Committee on theElimination of Discriminationagainst Women welcomes theconvening of the second WorldAssembly on Ageing in Madrid,and urges that special attention

be focused on the special needs

of older women. The situationof older women is of concern tothe Committee, which is theUnited Nations treaty body incharge of monitoring theimplementation of the 1979Convention on the Eliminationof All Forms of Discriminationagainst Women.

2. The Convention, oftendescribed as the international

bill of rights for women,defines what constitutes dis-

crimination against womenand sets up an agenda fornational action to end such dis-crimination. The Conventionis an important tool foraddressing the specific issue ofthe human rights of older

The human rights of older

ness that women constitute the

majority of older people as well asthe majority of the 1.3 billion people

living in poverty worldwide. It recog-nizes that throughout their life cycle,women face discrimination as

regards education and employmentopportunities, income, access to eco-

nomic resources and the division oflabour in the household, all of which

add up to reduced well-being in laterlife. The 1995 Platform for Action,adopted at the Fourth World Con-

ference on Women in Beijing, calledfor gender equality and the empow-

erment of women throughout theirlife cycle as prerequisites for achiev-

ing political, social, economic andenvironmental security and well-

being. Subsequently, the UnitedNations Commission on the Status ofWomen (CSW) recognized the impor-

tance of gender in all aspects of pop-ulation ageing. It considered the sta-

tus of older women in 1998 andcontributed to the 1999 InternationalYear of Older Persons.

As the international communityconvenes the Second World Assem-

bly on Ageing in Madrid, Spain, inApril 2002, it is crucial that the gen-

der aspects of ageing continue toreceive systematic attention. Theinternational community needs to

build on the achievements alreadymade and use the Second World

Assembly on Ageing as an occasionto keep the momentum going and

strengthen its commitment towardsthe empowerment of older women

worldwide. It is particularly importantto mainstream gender perspectivesin the International Plan of Action on

Ageing, the outcome document,

which will constitute a blueprint forresponding to the opportunities andchallenges of individual and popula-

tion ageing in the twenty-first centurywith the ultimate goal of promotingthe development of a society for all

ages. As older women outnumberolder men, and increasingly so

among the oldest old, the situation ofolder women everywhere must be a

priority for policy action.


15

The Committee on the Elim-ination of Discrimination

against Women, which monitorsimplementation of the Con-vention in States parties, on1 February 2002 adopted a state-ment addressed to the SecondWorld Assembly on Ageing. Thiscontribution by the Committee,reflected below, aims at endingdiscrimination against olderwomen through the Convention.

1. The Committee on theElimination of Discrimination

against Women welcomes theconvening of the second WorldAssembly on Ageing in Madrid,and urges that special attention

be focused on the special needsof older women. The situationof older women is of concern tothe Committee, which is theUnited Nations treaty body incharge of monitoring theimplementation of the 1979Convention on the Eliminationof All Forms of Discrimination

against Women.2. The Convention, often des-cribed as the international billof rights for women, defineswhat constitutes discriminationagainst women and sets up anagenda for national action toend such discrimination. TheConvention is an important toolfor addressing the specific issueof the human rights of olderwomen. Discrimination againstwomen in all areas of their livesthroughout their lifespan has asevere and compounded impacton women in old age. TheCommittee has increasinglyused the Convention to pointout the discrimination faced byolder women in all countries ofthe world and, in its concluding

comments, has suggested waysto improve the quality of life of

these women. In particular, theCommittee has recommendedaction, inter alia, to address thesituation of older women livingin poverty, particularly in ruralareas; to address the physical,financial and emotional needsof older women; and to improveolder womens access to healthcare.

3. The Committee, therefore,urges States parties to include

and integrate womens per-spectives into all aspects of theproposed international strate-gies for action on ageing.

4. The Committee placesstrong emphasis on the needfor Governments to collectand analyse statistical datadisaggregated by sex and ageas a way to better assess livingconditions, including the inci-dence of poverty and violenceagainst women of all ages, and

stresses the importance of for-mulating and implementingprogrammes with a life-cycleapproach to older womenseconomic and social well-

being and empowerment.

5. Furthermore, the Committeerecommends that special atten-tion be paid to improving thefurther education of olderwomen. The Committee recom-mends that measures be takento increase the literacy levels ofolder women and to reduce theliteracy gap between olderwomen in urban and ruralareas. It also recommends thedesign and implementation ofgender-sensitive policies andprogrammes that address thespecific needs of older women,

The human rights of older women

(continued on page 16)


16/20


16

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The last decade has brought interna-

tional recognition to the genderdimensions of ageing. The ground-

work has been prepared to addressthe inequalities faced by older

women as a result of their gender-based roles in society. This is the time

to focus on older womens capacitiesand the important role they play at thefamily and community level.

Older women need to remain fully

integrated into the life of society sothat they can continue to live produc-tive lives into old age. On a daily basis

and around the world, older womenmake life better for succeeding gen-erations, in both small and large

ways. Too often their efforts gounrecognized. They must be encour-

aged and supported, and given themeans to perform their activities notonly as homebound caregivers, but as

counsellors, mentors, decision mak-ers and peace-builders. While older

men often participate in the civic andpublic life of communities, frequently

holding decision-making positions,the same is only rarely true for older

women. Many face insurmountablestereotypes as society expects themto quietlyand invisiblylook after

family matters rather than be active in

the public sphere.Society needs to change the way

it views older women. They are not

a burden, but a vital and valuableresource. The prevailing stereotypesof older women as frail, helpless

and sick need to be challenged. Themedia have an important role to play

in changing these negative stereo-

types. Popular culture reflected inadvertising focuses on women who

are young and fit. Yet growing num-bers of women are less young, andstill very fit. Mass media still largely

carries stereotyped images of olderwomen as dependent people, con-

sumers of social security and publichealth services. Yet older women

are a diverse group of creative andproductive members of society.Encouraging the media to correct

such misrepresentations and tofocus on images that reflect the

diversity of older womens lives willgo a long way in improving inter-

generational relations.Governments, too, need to focus

on productive ageing for women,where the opportunities of youngeryears become the building blocks for

active, healthy and involved old age.More research is required to better

understand the links between poverty,ageing and gender, and to help formu-late effective policy responses. Social

protection systems should respondeffectively to older womens needs,

especially by eliminating discriminationin pension schemes. Practical mea-

sures should aim at improving their liv-ing conditions, and at achieving eco-nomic security, good health and

well-being. Abuse of and violenceagainst women must be tackled effec-

tively through legislation and preven-tive and protective measures. Lifelong

learning will help older women toremain in the mainstream of society.

Lastly, public policy also needs tofocus on caregivers in an overall effortto promote gender equality and

empowerment of women. It is

women that usually become care-givers, for both elderly care and for ill-ness, and many women in this role

require assistance from government,from men, from society, and fromservices such as self-help groups, spe-

cialized counselling and training, andrespite carefor the benefit of all.

including those relating to theirphysical, mental, social and eco-nomic well-being.

6. Older women, for a varietyof reasons, including theirwork as unpaid family mem-

bers in the informal sector,part-time work, interruptedcareer patterns and concen-tration in low-paying jobs, areoften insufficiently covered

by health insurance and pen-sion schemes. Migration andthe breakdown of supportivefamily structures often leaveolder women dependent on

State assistance, the providersof which have not beentrained to recognize and meettheir specific educational,financial and health needs.The Committee recommendsthat the care required forolder women be addressed

through public policy meas-ures in order to establishsocietal responsibility for

their well-being. Care given tothem by family membersought to be socially and finan-cially recognized and encour-aged.

7. Special recognition shouldbe provided to the contribu-tion of women to their fami-lies, the national economyand civil society throughouttheir lifespan: stereotypes andtaboos that restrict or limitolder women from continuing

to contribute should be elimi-nated.____________Source: Committee on the Eliminationof Discrimination against Women, 26thsession, 14 January to 1 February 2002.Information on the Committee can befound at:http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/committee.htm

(continued from page 15)

This issue ofwomen2000 was compiled by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, with Karen Judd, Consultant.


17/20


17

END NOTES

1 A/RES/S-23/3, para. 6.2 UN Press Release SG/SM/6893, 11 February 1999.3 The following United Nations conferences dealt

with these issues: the 1995 Fourth World Conference

on Women, Beijing, China; the 1995 World Summit

on Social Development, Copenhagen, Denmark; andthe 1996 United Nations Conference on Human

Settlements (Habitat II), Istanbul, Turkey.4 Twenty-third special session of the General

Assembly entitled Women 2000: gender equality,

development and peace for the twenty-first century,

5-10 June 2000.5 UN, The Worlds Women 2000:Trends and Statistics(New York, United Nations, 2000), p. 8.6 Population Division, DESA, World PopulationProspects: 2000 Revision, vol. II, p. 3.7 Ibid., pp. 4-5.8 UN, World Population Monitoring 2000, pp. 44-49.9 UN, The World Ageing Situation: Exploring a Societyfor All Ages (New York, United Nations, 2001), p. 2.10 UN, World Population Prospects, op. cit., p. 17.11 UN, World Ageing Situation, op. cit., p. 2.12 See UN Department of International Economic and

Social Affairs, World Urbanization Prospects 1990,

ST/ESA/SER.A/121, New York.13 Kevin Kinsella, Population Ageing in Developing

Countries, in Meeting the Challenges of AgeingPopulations in the Developing World (Malta,International Institute on Ageing (INIA), 1996), p. 36.14 Sylvia Vatuk, Migration and the Elderly in Developing

Countries, Meeting the Challenges, op. cit., p. 88.15

UN, Worlds Women 2000, op. cit., p. 11.16 Irene Zeilinger, Family Support Systems and OlderWomen in Sub-Saharan Africa, in INSTRAW, Ageingin a Gendered World (Dominican Republic, INSTRAW,1999), p. 185.17 Kinsella, op. cit., p. 35.18 Kinsella, op. cit., p. 34.19 UNFPA, The State of World Population 1998 (NewYork, UNFPA, 1998), p. 42; ILO, World Labour Report2000 (Geneva, ILO, 2000), p. 139.20 Ann Varley and Maribel Blasco, Reaping What You

Sow, Ageing in a Gendered World, op. cit., p. 155.21 See Zeilinger, op. cit., p. 189; Shanyisa Khasiani,

Elderly Women in Eastern Africa, in AARP, OlderWomen as Beneficiaries of and Contributors toDevelopment: International Perspectives (New York,AARP, 1991), pp. 105-107. This pattern of support

explains why women in male-dominated societies resist

family planning until they have had several sons

despite the toll this takes on their health and aspirations.22 World Health Assembly 1991: Focus on Healthin the Cities, Network News, July 1991.23 Zeilinger, op. cit., p. 192.24 Studies reported in HAI, Equal Treatment,Equal Rights, November 2001.

25 Zeilinger, op. cit., p. 190.26 UNFPA, The State of World Population 1998(New York, UNFPA, 1998), p. 3.27 ILO, World Labour Report 2000 (Geneva, ILO, 2000),p. 115.28 Amivi-Cra Komlan, Golden Years Can Be Blue,Womens Feature Service, 14 January 2002.29 UNFPA, The State of World Population, op. cit., p. 16.30 UN, World Ageing Situation, op. cit., p. 19.31 See World Ageing Situation, op. cit., p. 19; HAI,Equal Treatment, Equal Rights, op. cit., p. 8.32 Ibid.33 HAI, When Older People Need Care,http://www.helpage.org/info/care2/html.34 Fiona Clark, Old Age, Gender and Marginality in Peru:Development for the Elderly, Ageing in a GenderedWorld, op. cit., p. 225.35 HAI, The Ageing and Development Report, n.d., p. 9.36 UN, World Ageing Situation, op. cit., p. 7.37 Ibid.38

See Sara Rix, Older Women and Development:Making a Difference, in AARP, Older Women asBeneficiaries of and Contributors to Development(New York, AARP, 1991).39 Esther Ocloo, Empowering Older Women through

Income-Generating Activities, in Older Women asBeneficiaries, op. cit.40 See UN, World Ageing Situation, op. cit., p. 31.41 Looking Ahead/Looking Around: Dynamics ofGender Partnership in Africa (New York, UNDP, 2000).42 Human Development Report 2000 (Kathmandu,Nepal, UNDP, 2002).43 UNDP, Twenty Years of South-South Cooperation(New York, TCDC/UNDP, 2000).44 Margaret Grieco and Nana Apt, Development and theAgeing of Populations: Global Overview by Experts on

Ageing in Africa, World Ageing Situation, op. cit., p. 30.45 ILO, Realizing Decent Work for Older WomenWorkers. Geneva: ILO, 2001.46 The Windfall of Longevity, Wellesley Centers for

Women research report, spring 1999, pp. 5-7.47 UNFPA, The State of World Population 1998,op. cit., p. 14.48 Examples taken from ILO, The Information

Technology Revolution: Widening or Bridging Gender

Gaps?, World Employment Report 2001 (Geneva, ILO,2001).49 HAI, Poverty, Independence & the Worlds OlderPeople, The Ageing & Development Report, op. cit.50 Gail Wilson et al., Age, Migration, Gender and

Empowerment: Older Women in Europe, Ageing in aGendered World, op. cit.51 Equal Opportunities for Older Women,

www.sophia-net.org.52 HAI, Witness to History, Ageing and Development,May 2001.53 Ruth Teubal, Women and Elderly Women in the

Mass Media: Some Preliminary Notes from Argentina,


18/20


18

in AARP, The Impact of Globalization on the Imagesof Older Women (New York, AARP, 1999).54 Most of the women either bought or were left the

homes by their husbands, following a government

programme to encourage people to buy homes

previously owned by the local Council. See Housing

from the Perspective of Older Women, a study bymembers of the Older Womens Network (OWN),

Lewisham, n.d.55 1982 International Plan of Action on Ageing.56 See UN Programme on Ageing, A Society for All

Ages: Evolution and Exploration, and Martha Dueas

Loza, Ageing in Transition: Situation of Older Women in

the Latin American Region, World Ageing Situation,op. cit.

SELECTED RESOURCES

ON AGEING

Books

AARP, Older Women as Beneficiaries of and Contributorsto Development: International Perspectives(New York,AARP, 1991). Although some data are dated, casestudies of development policies and history in differentcountries contain valuable accounts of older womens livesand work.Jay Ginn, Debra Street and Sara Arber, eds., Women,Work and Pensions: International Issues and Prospects(Buckingham, Open University Press, 2001).INSTRAW, Ageing in a Gendered World: Womens Issuesand Identities(Santo Domingo, 1999). Collected articlespresent research and analysis on the changing identitiesfor older women brought about by longevity, the mythsand realities of womens caregiving roles, and the status of

social protection systems in different parts of the world.David R. Phillips, ed., Ageing in the Asia-Pacific Region:Issues, Policies and Future Trends (London, Routledge, 2000).

Reports

AARP, The Impact of Globalization on the Images of OlderWomen: Report of the International Symposium, October13-15, 1999. Case studies from developing countriesexplore the images of women portrayed in commercial filmand television imports and their complex impact ontraditional norms and stereotypes in different cultures.HelpAge International, The Ageing and DevelopmentReport: Poverty, Independence & the Worlds Older People,1999.

ILO, Realizing Decent Work for Older Women Workers,Geneva, 2001.United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,The World Ageing Situation: Exploring a Society for All Ages(New York, United Nations, 2001).______, Towards the Second World Assembly on Ageing,report of the Secretary-General, 13 December 2000,E/CN.5/2001/PC/2.______, Abuse against Older Persons, report of theSecretary-General, February 2002. Forthcoming in February2002, this report presents a succinct overview of an area in

which there has been little research to date, especially on aglobal level.______, The Worlds Women: Trends and Statistics (NewYork, United Nations, 2000).______, World Population Prospectsthe 2000 Revision(New York, United Nations, 2001).United Nations, Institutional Institute on Ageing, Meetingthe Challenges of Ageing Populations in the DevelopingWorld. Malta: INIA, 1996. Country-specific analyses ofdemographic, social and economic trends in the developingworld.UNFPA, The State of World Population: The NewGenerations (New York, UNFPA, 1998).

Briefing papers

HelpAge International publishes briefing and position paperson ageing in a human rights and development context,including Gender and Ageing: A position paper,November 2000; Intergenerational Approaches to PovertyEradication and Social Exclusion, February 2001, Equal

Treatment, Equal Rights: Ten Actions to End AgeDiscrimination, November 2001.

Journals and periodicals

Ageing in Africa, HelpAge International.Ageing and Development, a newsletter from HelpAgeInternational.Ageing International, quarterly journal of the InternationalFederation on Ageing, Montreal, Canada.Bulletin on Ageing, United Nations Secretariat, Division forSocial Policy and Development.BOLD, quarterly journal of the International Institute onAgeing, Malta.Global Ageing Report, bimonthly journal from the American

Association of Retired Persons.Women of Europe Dossier, quarterly periodical on olderwomen in the European Union.

Web sites

Second World Assembly on Ageinghttp://www.madrid2002-envejecimiento.org/Provides updated information on the Second WorldAssembly on Ageing, Madrid, April 2002.

United Nations systemhttp://www.fao.orgCovers ageing and rural populations, Food and Agriculture

Organization of the United Nations.http://www.inia.org.mtActivities undertaken by the United Nations InternationalInstitute on Ageing.

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/skills/older/Focuses on older workers, International LabourOrganization.

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing/Provides information on the Programme of Ageing of theUnited Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs.


19/20


19

http://www.unfpa.org/swp/swpmain.htmProvides information on The State of World Population2000, United Nations Population Fund.

http://www.un.org/popin/The United Natio

gender dimensions of ageing

Documents