Women in ageing societies

Widowhood is one of the most stressful life events, resulting in declines in psychological wellbeing and increases in mortality risks. Although the consequences of widowhood on mortality and psychological wellbeing are well-documented, little is known about the impact of widowhood on physical health. We assess how widowhood influences physical wellbeing and identify the mechanisms underlying the relationship between widowhood and functional health. Using data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), we employ ordinary least square models to (1) compare the functional health of married and widowed persons and (2) examine the extent to which socioeconomic circumstances, relationship quality, and availability of social support explains the health differentials between them. Widowed persons have worse functional health than their married counterparts, net of demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, marital quality, and availability of other forms of social support. The worse functional health of widowed persons is largely attributable to the fact that they are more likely to be in low quality marriages and to have cared for an ailing spouse prior to their death.

The elderly women are more vulnerable in India due to the patriarchal nature of Indian society. The present study aims at understanding the extent of life style disease (LSDs) among elderly women and to explore the factors associated with the selected LSDs in India. Using IHDS, 2004-05 data we have analyzed three major LSDs namely High BP, Heart disease and Diabetes. This study is restricted to elderly women who are 60 years and above. The study has employed bi-variate and multivariate analysis to find out the association between socioeconomic & demographic characteristics and selected LSDs among elderly women. The results shows that a high proportion of elderly women (38%) suffer from high blood pressure followed by diabetes (18%) and less than ten percent of them report heart problems. Furthermore, the multi-nominal results show that the LSDs is equally prevalent in urban area, high caste groups, educated and non-poor section of the society.

Like other developing countries in the midst of demographic transition, Egypt is experiencing changes in the relative distribution of children, population in the working ages and older persons. The proportion of older adults (60 years +) was 6% in 2006 and is expected to be 12% in 2030.

A household based survey was conducted in 2006 to collect information for the first time on living conditions and informal support received by older adults. The study sample included about 2000 persons 60 years and over of both sexes.

Findings reflected striking gender gaps in demographic, social, economic and health conditions. Older males were more likely to be currently married, better educated, better economically secured and enjoyed better health conditions than older women. They were also more likely to go for out-door recreational activities. Women were more likely to be widowed, living alone in their households. Many of them were living in extended families with married children, with implications on their autonomy. Women were also less likely to receive functional care and assistance in instrumental activities of daily life from family members compared to men.

Some recommendations to promote quality of life of older adults were raised.


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A main feature of demographic ageing is the increased presence of women. Next to this evident fact it is also shown that because of gender differences elderly women meet worst health conditions and higher risks of widowhood, social handicap and economic dependence.
Economic security in old age depends on several factors, including the protection provided by social security. Coverage of the contributory pension system for elderly women is lower than men´s because of lower labour rights and shorter periods of contribution that are neglected in the planning and legislation of social security.
This paper analyzes the individual, familiar, and contextual factors that determine how women 60 and over access to a social security pension. Data comes from the National Survey of Employment and Social Security 2009. It is highlighted that only 17.6% get a pension and that factors such as age, marital situation, education level, number of children, contributions and the degree of urbanization of the place of residence determine the type and characteristics of the pension.