Doing it from your heart: the role of older women as informal volunteers

This paper explores the contributions made by older women to the community as informal volunteers. It argues that ageing policy is not gender neutral and tends to ignore the contributions made by women outside paid work. As well as being ignored in policy, women's unpaid roles have been denigrated by some feminist commentators, who suggest that these roles subordinate the position of women. The aim of the present paper is to explore the lived experiences of older women in relation to their informal volunteer roles, using role identity theory as a framework. The study utilizes data from a qualitative study using focus group methodology. Findings demonstrate that informal volunteering contributes to the women's identity and gives their lives meaning. These findings suggest that a more positive policy framework around ageing is needed to ensure that the worth of these contributions is recognised.     

女性地位低的层级推演--对出生性别比偏高背后隐象的探析

目前学术界对出生性别比偏高原因的争论主要集中在出生婴儿性别次序先后与下一孩次性别关系以及计划生育政策和女婴存在漏报、瞒报的影响等三个方面,本文在对三大传统观点提出质疑的基础上,先从生物学、计划生育政策、医学技术三个方面,而后从性别偏好,最后从女性地位低这三级递进的层次,推演和探析出生性别比偏高的原因,从而明晰出生性别比偏高的终极原因在于女性地位低这一事实。并努力从女性地位、男性偏好以及出生性别比三者关系上构造出一个新的分析框架。     

Unanticipated consequences: a comparison of expected and actual retirement timing among older women

The present study adds to the growing body of literature on women and retirement by means of a comparative analysis of the factors associated with anticipated retirement timing (among pre-retirees) and actual retirement timing (among retirees). Adopting a political economy of aging perspective, we argue that socially-structured patterns of gender inequality related to women's multiple roles across the life course affect patterns of retirement timing. Specifically, we hypothesize that the gendered nature of women's work-retirement decision-making is unanticipated during pre-retirement years. Logistic regression analyses are performed on data drawn from a sample of 275 women aged 45 and older living in the Vancouver area of British Columbia. A central finding is that while actual timing of retirement is affected by family caregiving responsibilities and by health/stress factors, pre-retirees do not perceive these to be important in their own expected retirement timing. Implications for social policy, education, and women's financial and psychological well-being in old age are elaborated.     

Adding aging and gender to the women's health agenda

The complex interaction of medical, social, and economic factors that affect women's wellness as they age requires a new paradigm that bridges the gap between those who are concerned about aging issues and those concerned about women's health. In this article, we begin this endeavor by advancing three interrelated themes: (1) there is a gendered relationship between socioeconomic structures and health over time; (2) there are gender-specific implications of health care financing and policy; and (3) there are health consequences to the gendered nature of caregiving.     

Gender inequalities and demographic behavior

A summary was provided of the central findings about gender inequalities in Egypt, India, Ghana, and Kenya published by the Population Council in 1994. These countries exhibited gender inequalities in different ways: the legal, economic, and educational systems; family planning and reproductive health services; and the health care system. All countries had in common a high incidence of widowhood. Widowhood was linked with high levels of insecurity, which were linked with high fertility. Children thus became insurance in old age. In Ghana, women's insecurity was threatened through high levels of marital instability and polygyny. In Egypt, insecurity was translated into economic vulnerability because of legal discrimination against women when family systems were disrupted. In India and all four countries, insecurity was reflective of limited access to education, an impediment to economic autonomy. In all four countries, women's status was inferior due to limited control over reproductive decision making about childbearing limits and contraception. In India, the cultural devaluation of girls contributed to higher fertility to satisfy the desire for sons. In India and Egypt, family planning programs were dominated by male-run organizations that were more concerned about demographic objectives than reproductive health. The universal inequality was the burden women carry for contraception. Family planning programs have ignored the local realities of reproductive behavior, family structures, and gender relations. The assumption that husbands and wives have similar fertility goals or that fathers fully share the costs of children is mistaken in countries such as Ghana. Consequently, fertility has declined less than 13% in Ghana, but fertility has declined by over 30% in Kenya. Family planning programs must be aware of gender issues.     

从社会性别视角探析农村妇女向非农产业转移

在农村剩余劳动力向非农产业转移过程中,农村妇女处于明显的不利地位,无论是转移规模还是外出务工的工资水平都低于男性。以社会性别理论为基础,从社会性别视角关注农村妇女的就业状况,分析不平等及性别歧视是农村妇女向非农产业转移的重要障碍,建议政府发挥更加积极的作用,提高农村妇女的社会地位、促进男女两性平等,从而促进农村妇女向非农产业的顺利转移。     

农村女性人口流动的约束机制——社会性别视角分析

本文构建了"嵌入式"研究框架,以农村女性劳动力流动特征为出发点,从社会性别视角探讨隐含的深层约束机制及作用途径,认为个人素质差异属于条件性因素,直接约束了女性流动的选择,而宏观层面的传统社会性别规范通过家庭和劳动力市场中观层面发挥影响,是约束的根源所在,在此基础上提出了突破约束的基本思路.     

女性就业与发展困境的原因探析

就业是妇女获得发展的一个重要方式 ,因为就业的期望以及工作中产生的问题和挑战是刺激人们学习新知识、新技能 ,从而获得发展的重要推动力量。但是 ,经济的、社会的、生理的因素限制了妇女就业以及进行人力资本再投资的机会 ,而且这些因素相互影响 ,相互作用。所以 ,克服妇女就业和发展的障碍需要政府制定政策支持妇女教育和培训 ,防止用人单位在雇用、培训、晋升等环节歧视女性     

从社会性别视角透析出生性别比失衡

20世纪80年代以来,出生性别比失衡问题越来越严重。男尊女卑、重男轻女等传统思想是出生性别比失衡的内在根源,妇女较低的家庭地位是出生性别比失衡的外在根源,妇女自身较低的素质是出生性别比失衡的外在表现。要根除这些根源,就要营造平等的社会性别文化,消除性别歧视;加强立法和政策宣传力度,建立起完善的社会保障制度,提高妇女社会地位;加强男女平等教育,提高国民素质,以及提高妇女的文化素质。     

Women in national legislatures

This study tests macrostructural theories of gender stratification by examining women's representation in national legislatures. Political structural variables are combined with the variables suggested by the propositions of Janet Chafetz and Rae Blumberg. Both developed and developing nations are represented in the data set of 73 countries. The most important finding for theory is that women's rate of labor force participation is a powerful predictor of women's political status.A version of this paper was presented at the meetings of the American Sociological Association in Pittsburg, PA, August 1992.     

The effect of work absence on wages and wage gaps in Sweden

We use unique information about short-term absence from the labor market among Swedish employees to investigate the potential wage loss attributed to this type of absence. A reform in the Swedish health insurance system was used as an instrument. The results indicate that women's wages are significantly reduced by work absence due to own sickness, while absence to care for a sick child has no significant wage effect. For men, we find no support for effects on wages from short-term absence. We also show that the distribution of the gender wage gap depends to a large extent on work absence. Received: 29 September 1998/Accepted: 16 April 1999     

Gender,aging, and the economics of “active aging”: Setting a new research agenda

The world is aging, and the percentages of older people are on a dramatic ascent. This dramatic demographic aging of human society is not gender neutral; it is mostly about older women. One of the key policy approaches to address the aging revolution is known as “active aging,” crystalized by the WHO in 2002 by three pillars: participation, health, and security. The active aging policy has financial and economic aspects and affects both men and women. However, as argued in this article, a gender-based approach has not been adopted within the existing active aging framework. Therefore, a new gender-specific research agenda is needed, one that focuses on an interrelation between gender and different economic aspects of “active aging” from international, comparative, cultural, and longitudinal perspectives.     

Transgender Identities,Pressures, and Social Policy: A Study Carried Out in Spain

ABSTRACT

This article draws on a qualitative research project concerning the relationship between trans people’s mental health and wellbeing, pressures, social policy, and heteronormative gender norms in Spain. Drawing on interviews carried out with trans people from all regions and generations, we use an ecological framework to illustrate how a socially entrenched heteronormativity pressures trans people to comply with gender norms that impact negatively their mental health and wellbeing. The article argues that the legal changes in Spain are not enough in themselves to bring about social change, but, rather, Spanish social policy makers also need to challenge gender categorization and work toward transforming public discourses on gender issues if trans people are to gain full social recognition and equal social rights.     

我国非正规就业的性别特征分析

基于第二次中国妇女地位抽样调查数据 ,本文分析非正规就业的性别特征及相应的收入和就业环境的性别差异。研究发现 ,非正规就业中的行业和职业性别隔离是我国非正规就业的最重要性别特征 ,它不仅在很大程度上导致了收入方面的性别差异 ,而且也为非正规就业的劳动权益保障和就业服务提出了具有性别特征的要求     

A cross-national comparison of the impact of family migration on women's employment status

In this paper we consider the effects of family migration on women's employment status, using census microdata from Great Britain and the United States. We test a simple hypothesis that families tend to move long distances in favor of the male's career and that this can have a detrimental effect on women's employment status. Unlike many previous studies of this question, our work emphasizes the importance of identifying couples that have migrated together, rather than simply comparing long-distance (fe)male migrants with nonmigrant (fe)males individually. We demonstrate that women's employment status is harmed by family migration; the results we present are surprisingly consistent for Great Britain and the United States, despite differing economic situations and cultural norms regarding gender and migration. We also demonstrate that studies that fail to identify linked migrant couples are likely to underestimate the negative effects of family migration on women's employment status.     

Women’s status and domestic violence in rural Bangladesh: Individual- and community-level effects

We explore the determinants of domestic violence in two rural areas of Bangladesh. We found increased education, higher socioeconomic status, non-Muslim religion, and extended family residence to be associated with lower risks of violence. The effects of women's status on violence was found to be highly context-specific. In the more culturally conservative area, higher individual-level women's autonomy and short-term membership in savings and credit groups were both associated with significantly elevated risks of violence, and community-level variables were unrelated to violence. In the less culturally conservative area, in contrast, individual-level women's status indicators were unrelated to the risk of violence, and community-level measures of women's status were associated with significantly lower risks of violence, presumably by reinforcing nascent normative changes in gender relations.     

Activism among older women in Quebec, Canada: changing the world after age 65

The aim of this article is to examine senior women's involvement experience in Quebec, Canada. Study results are based on a qualitative methodology, and shed light on family history and continuity in the involvement trajectory, diversity in terms of group type and involvement practices, and gender differences in involvement. The meaning that older women attribute to their involvement is also addressed, including attitudes toward feminism. The discussion highlights the extent to which older women's involvement has been marked by their life trajectories, above and beyond their age. In sum, their involvement in the private and public spheres is quite impressive.     

The status of unmarried Hong Kong women and the social factors contributing to their delayed marriage

Summary The Dixon model, which assesses the factors responsible for a rise in marriage age, has been applied to a number of Hong Kong women, aged from 20 to 24 in 1973, who were interviewed in depth. Four of them have delayed marriage due to the unavailability of mates, in particular the new marriage style and difficulty of locating a companionable mate. For 21 marriage was not economically feasible. Three anticipated they would lose too many opportunities by early marriage which was consequently undesirable at that time; only one sought to gain opportunities by a young marriage. All three factors work in concert to some extent. The age structure contributes to women's participation in the labour force and they could meet neither their obligations to their families nor to themselves by marrying early. Delayed marriage enhances women's status, and is an attractive policy for the developing world.     

A structural approach to women's hometime and experience-earnings profiles: Maternity leave and public policy

The differential availability of maternity leave benefits is shown to be an important factor in the earnings attainment process of women. Interaction effects with this job characteristic are found for experience, occupational status, and crowding. The human capital model's explanation of the relationship between women's hometime, women's job choice, and public policy is critically examined. The results indicate that the provision of adequate child care needs to be coupled with parental leave policies if women are to make significant gains in earnings from reducing their time spent at home.The data and tabulations used in this study were made available by the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. The data were originally collected by Robert P. Quinn and Graham L. Staines. Neither they nor the Consortium bear any responsibility for the analysis or interpretations presented here. This paper was presented at the 1989 American Sociological Association meetings.     

Gender und Sozialpolitik: Ein Transformationsansatz

Before the third feminist wave, gender theories demanded either an adoption of ‘male’ lifestyles or enhance the status of ‘female’ lifestyles in society to overcome gender inequality. Present, ‘Gender Rebellion Feminisms’, however, debate the binary thinking of gender and challenge the gendered order on this issue. This shift has hardly influenced the debate in social policy, which is still bound to the ‘sameness’ or ‘difference’ theory. This article proposes a transformative approach that conceives equality as a complex concept beyond sameness and difference and calls for a degendering of social policy. By doing so, it is argued, the binary division of gender can be abandoned and feminist critique on social policy can reconnect with contemporary discourses in gender theories. This paradigmatic re-orientation overcomes the binary view on sameness and difference, re-addresses gendered social policy and entails a degendered distribution of care work and gainful employment.