Believe it or not, there is a 57 page WHO framework for action published in 2007 that addresses the vulnerabilities of aging women, which are distinct from those of aging men when it comes to healthcare. So what hasn’t changed?

1. Society’s Fixation on Women and Aging: I guarantee you that when you turn on your local evening news this evening, you will see and hear a lot of news about the economy, the pandemic and politics. What you will definitely not see is a female news anchor with gray hair. Society cares about aging because age functions as a convenient shorthand, a way to contextualize accomplishments and calibrate expectations. It’s lazy, though, and utterly unreliable, and arguably impertinent. Susanna Schrobsdorff in her TIME article, talked about her mother’s crossing over story. She called it the day she became invisible. She was a nurse and one day when she reached the peak of her career in her fifties, during a shift handover, she noticed the unit Physician looking over her to a younger nurse to answer questions. Essentially seen as older and less valuable.

2. Gender Gap Divergence in Aging: Research shows that among current cohorts of older adults, women suffer more than men from disability, loneliness, and depression. Generally, women also rank lower on indicators of subjective well-being, and have a weaker will-to-live. So, do the gender gaps in health indicators diverge or converge in old age? Some international data indicate trends toward gender convergence regarding life expectancy and in some aspects of health and well-being, but only among the oldest-old and/or people with high level of education and active lifestyle. However, the gender gap in years of life with disability continues to exist into late life, to the disadvantage of women.

3. Gender Inequities in Retirement: It is well known that the rate at which the population is aging puts a strain on the resources for providing social security, health care and supportive services at old age. At the same time, women’s access to resources still varies a lot from that of men, and social support systems often do not consider the gender differences in life patterns. “The majority of older people are women and the highest poverty rates among older people are concentrated among very old women. This is why when reforming social protection systems and labor markets it is absolutely essential to take into account the gender impact”

4. Gender Differences in Quality of Life: Gender differences are part of human existence, expressed both in biological structure and functions. However, it appears that beyond the biological differences, it is culture with its social structure including division of gender-related roles, societal functions and social status that has been a more influential factor in determining gender differences in quality of life. National and international comparisons indicate that women have an advantage over men in life expectancy, but they are disadvantaged in almost all dimensions of quality of life related to health, functioning and subjective well-being. For example, there are certain chronic illnesses that are more prevalent in women than in men and more likely to occur in aging women; though some of these chronic illnesses get a lot of attention, some yet do not because they are seen as an inevitable part of aging.

5. Intergenerational Care Burden on Aging Women: Women continue their caregiving role into old age, a fact that exposes them more than men to the heavy multifaceted burden and stressors related to these tasks while being physically and emotionally worn out themselves. Worthy of highlight, are the generation of women called the “sandwich generation” they bridge the gap in care services by providing informal care both for their elderly parents or spouse and their grandchildren. These group are seen as active and as such often overlooked as needing support.

6. Gender Mainstreaming: The impact of cumulative disadvantages faced by older women spans their entire lifecycle from childhood through being seniors: education, opportunity, and income disparities, caregiving responsibilities, domestic violence and healthcare disparity. Gender mainstreaming means assessing the impact of policies, legislation and planned action prior to implementation on not just men, but also on women. Societies should enhance and intensify the current positive developments in national policies toward increased gender equality by removing barriers that bar women’s access to socially valued personal resources and means for personal development, such as education, income, participation in the work force and in high positions. Societies should also become more involved and active in changing current cultural perceptions regarding gender-related social roles, as well as sexism and ageism.

7. The Pink Tax: Gender-based pricing, also known as the “pink tax,” is an income-generating gimmick where Corporations make their product look either more directed to or more appropriate for the female population and upcharges them egregiously for that. The pink tax is not limited to products, women also typically pay more for almost every single type of insurance because they tend to live longer, are more likely to be injured, and are more likely to be caretakers.

It is crucial that gender equality remains a long term objective as we develop Aging Models, to ensure that older women’s rights are secure which will enable them to live and enjoy a dignified life as they age.

What is your perspective? comment below and lets get the conversation going.

Its a RAP (Respect science, Address systemic racism, Promote awareness of ethnic and racial health disparities)