http://www.genderanddevelopment.org Gender & Development 17:3 Ageing en-us Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1412 http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1412 In most countries, state pensions are financed from pay-roll taxes. However, such pensions have a strong male bias, with more men than women accessing them while also receiving higher benefits. Achieving universal pension coverage in developing countries is not possible, with pensions financed by pay-roll taxes due to high levels of informal sector employment. Furthermore, such schemes would be biased against women. Universal pensions funded from general taxation are the only means by which developing countries can achieve universal pension coverage on a basis that is equitable for both men and women. Such schemes can be found in a number of developed and developing countries and have been very successful in reducing poverty in old age for both women and men. Author: Stephen Kidd Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1413 http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1413 Grandparents play a critical role in the reorganisation of care brought about by the increasing migration of women. Yet, they are conspicuously absent from the migration literature. This article looks at the role of grandparents, particularly grandmothers, in caring for migrants' children. It draws on a case study of a rapidly urbanising neighbourhood in Bolivia, and identifies grandmothers as both givers and receivers of care. Through a typology of different types of living arrangements, the article seeks to identify the processes that lead to greater vulnerability. Author: Tanja Bastia Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1414 http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1414 The generation of workers who contributed to the rapid economic development of South Korea since the 1960s have been marginalised socially and economically as they age. In particular, ageing and aged women engaged in marginalised economic activities have been excluded from current national and urban development policies. This article explores the lives of female street entrepreneurs and dressmakers of the Tongdaemun Shijang market area in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea. The article argues that the urban economy needs to be understood as diverse and open, and ageing and aged women are economically and socially active agents within it. Author: Ayami Noritake Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1415 http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1415 Legislative and economic changes in Zimbabwe have caused a confrontation between the younger and older generations over resources, with bad consequences for both. This article is based on research into the experiences of families living in both rural and urban areas. Since women normally outlive their husbands, struggles over property are common when husbands die. For elderly women, ownership of urban housing does not necessarily lead to control. Hence, owning property does not in itself ensure they can ensure economic security from it. Author: Gaynor Gamuchirai Paradza Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1416 http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1416 Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the understanding of discrimination against different people has moved forward considerably. This can be seen in the development of human rights conventions on children, women, disabled people and migrant workers and their families. However, one area still neglected is that of the rights of older women. Age discrimination continues to be tolerated and accepted by those in positions of power and by society in general, and for older women this discrimination is cross-cut by gender-based discrimination. This article looks at why and how NGOs can use existing human rights accountability mechanisms to hold governments to account for their human rights obligations towards older women. Author: Bridget Sleap Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1417 http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1417 Rural China is being remade in the wake of a massive exodus of young people to work in the cities and coastal areas. The core rural population is now middle-aged, and is caring for both parents and grandchildren. In this process, women and men are creating new patterns of kinship and social ties across distance and generations. This article draws on research that combined household analysis with focused life-history methods to explore these departures through a focus on three illustrative cases from upland west China. Author: Ellen R. Judd Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1418 http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1418 This article uses Cambodia's 2005 Demographic and Health Survey to explore differences in health status and health care access among elderly women and men, in the historical context of gendered violence during the Khmer Rouge regime. Results point to small disadvantages for women in becoming sick and seeking treatment, which are explained by their relatively lower socioeconomic status. However, no gender differences are found in the extent to which women and men take precautions to guard against ill-health, or in the types of treatment they seek. The study also confirms that there is an extremely low number of men in older age groups, a high incidence of female widowhood, and a greater likelihood of elderly women living by themselves. Author: Yana van der Meulen Rodgers Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1419 http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1419 This article explores the experiences, challenges and coping strategies of urban elderly residents in Kasubi-Kawaala, a slum on the margins of Kampala city, Uganda. The city is mainly stereotyped as a space for able-bodied individuals able to hustle, innovatively compete for limited resources, and accrue themselves benefits. It is widely assumed that old age causes people to retire to rural areas. Thus, the 'urban elderly' present an anomaly. Yet, they play a very significant role in the city. Many support dependent grandchildren, many of whom have been orphaned by AIDS. Author: Stella Nyanzi Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1420 http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1420 In developing countries like India, poor health and inability to access health care are an important part of the experience of ageing, particularly among people living in poverty: access to treatment is governed by public policy, as well as socio-economic characteristics of the elderly people. My research into morbidity among the elderly in an urban slum in South India demonstrates that the state should not dilute its commitment to health care, as it is the only source of access to health care, particularly for elderly women who have experienced multiple deprivations throughout their life course. Author: Gayathri Balagopal Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1421 http://www.genderanddevelopment.org/display.asp?K=002J1421 In this article, I rely upon the case study of a single, lower-middle-class woman from Delhi, to gain understanding of the everyday experience (rather than the right) of property ownership in an urban setting. The story will show how the right to property is not an end in itself. The actual experience of exercising the right is mediated through gender and socio-cultural interactions within the local community. In a context where the legal and administrative recourse is biased against women and crime against them is quite frequent, women owning property - especially when they are elderly - makes them easy targets of brutalisation without any protection from the communities in which they live. Author: Nitasha Kaul Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT