ABSTRACT
Population statistics indicate that by the middle of the twenty-first century, it is likely that the world’s population aged over 60 will have reached two billion (or 21 percent of the global population), a situation which has defined the century as “the age of aging” (Magnus 2008). A specific feature of this population is that as it ages, it is becoming increasingly female-dominated since the further up the age scale the greater the proportion of women, with women outliving their male counterparts in nearly all countries (Central Intelligence Agency 2008). Life expectancy for women now exceeds 80 in at least 35 countries, with rapid economic development contributing to increased life expectancy in many other nations (World Health Organization 2005). For example, in Japan, which has the highest life expectancy of any nation, while men can expect to live on average to age 78.8, women’s life expectancy averages at 85.6 (Central Intelligence Agency 2008).
