Recently, I came across a video of a YouTube channel, the ‘MOJO Story’. It had covered the story of an elderly woman Leelavati aged 79 yrs being beaten and thrown out of her home by her son. The story highlights a grave issue that our senior citizens are going through, especially the women. Along with the ‘feminization of ageing’, the crimes towards older women are also increasingly high in our country.
Senior citizens of our country are considered vulnerable. This is because, with ageing, one’s productive capacity and physical strength decline. Thus they become dependent on others both physically and economically. National Elderly Policy defines a person of 60+ age group as elderly. India has been facing a new form of challenge associated with senior citizens that are known as the ‘feminization of ageing’.
The Percentage Of Old Age Women Without A Partner Is Higher Than Their Male Counterparts
The feminization of ageing is a worldwide phenomenon. It is observed that in most countries, the elderly female population is growing as compared to males. The ‘gendered’ nature of aging is such that universally women tend to live longer than men. Advanced healthcare facilities in today’s world have increased this figure.
So, at the age of 80 years and above, widowhood dominates the status of women, with 71% of women, and only 29% of men have lost their spouses. In India, according to the world population prospects, the current youth growth rate is expected to last until 2025, after which the growth rate of the elderly is likely to take over.
By 2050, women over 60 years would exceed the number of elderly men by 18.4 million, which would result in a unique characteristic of the feminization of the elderly population in India, as is being experienced in many provinces of China.
Old Women Face Numerous Physical Challenges
In Indian society, the working population of women is meagre. So most of the women are engaged in household works. Burdened with the household chores for a longer period, compared to older men, older women don’t have time for leisure or recreational activities.
Women experience proportionately higher rates of chronic illness and disability in later life than men. Women suffer from a greater risk of non-communicable diseases and experience lower social and mental health, especially if they are single or widowed.
Social norms prohibit women from re-marrying, resulting in an increased likelihood of women ending up alone. Aging women are more likely to get excluded from social security schemes due to lower literacy and awareness levels.
Elderly women and their problems need special attention as their numbers are likely to increase in the future. Given the multiple disadvantages they face in life, they are grossly unprepared to tackle these adversities. The nation, therefore, has to ensure an enabling and supportive environment for older women who often face social alienation and deprivation.
‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ i.e. the whole world is a single-family, is what we have learned from our Upanishads and we should not forget this under the veil of globalization. Discrimination of the vulnerable sections like the senior citizens should be avoided.