ABSTRACT
The literature provides a basic descriptive picture of women in later life that covers such dimensions as income, employment and retirement, widowhood, social and family life, and health. This chapter explores the experiences of women as they age, from a social construction perspective. The social construction perspective focuses on how older people become unnecessarily dependent because of social barriers, such as the division of labour within the family, inadequate retirement wages, poor transportation systems, the high cost of housing, and inadequate community. P. Leonard and B. Nichols claim that the experience of ageing is socially constructed by the relationships and structures within which it occurs. The effects of social support on well-being and as a stress moderator have been examined extensively. In the case of older women who have been designated caregivers by social expectation and cultural forces, their bio-psychosocial adjustment problems may be more apparent than those of elderly non-caregiving women.
