Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T04:24:38.914Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Gendered Meanings of Care Work Within Late Life Marital Relationships

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Kate Davidson ,
Sara Arber  and
Jay Ginn
Kate Davidson
Affiliation:
University of Surrey
Sara Arber
Affiliation:
University of Surrey
Jay Ginn
Affiliation:
University of Surrey
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Most care of older, ailing or disabled people within the home is carried out by a spouse. This paper examines late life marriage and the gendered consequences of caring for older married people in England. Qualitative interview data are analysed to contrast the sense of autonomy of older men and women while caring for a spouse and after widowhood. By encouraging older people to reflect retrospectively on the meaning of their caring roles, we illuminate the process of adjusting to transitions after long-term marriage. The research data indicate that gendered roles and expectations are crucial in understanding the mainly negative experience of older women as carers, in contrast to the more positive experience of older men.

Résumé

La plupart des soins accordés aux aîné(e)s malades ou invalides qui vivent dans leur foyer sont à la charge du conjoint. Ce texte examine les dernières années de la vie de couple et les répercussions sur chaque membre du couple qui accorde des soins; l'étude a été effectuée en Angleterre. On a analysé des données d'entrevue qualitative pour faire ressortir le sens d'autonomie des aîné(e)s, hommes et femmes, qui prennent soin d'un conjoint et leur veuvage. En encourageant les aîné(e)s à se pencher après coup sur le sens de leur rôle de soignant, on fait la lumière sur l'ajustement à la transition qui suit un long mariage. La recherche indique que les rôles en fonction des sexes et les attentes sont essentielles à la compréhension des expériences souvent négatives des femmes âgées soignantes, par rapport aux expériences plus positives des hommes aînés.

Keywords

GenderCaringLong-Term MarriageWidowhoodDependence.Genresoignantlong mariageveuvagedépendance.
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , Hiver/Winter 2000 , pp. 536 - 553
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allan, G. (1985). Family life. Oxford, Blackwell.Google Scholar
Arber, S., & Evandrou, M. (Eds.). (1993). Ageing, independence and the life course. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Arber, S., & Ginn, J. (Eds.). (1995). Connecting gender and ageing: A sociological approach. Buckingham: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Askham, J. (1995). The married lives of older people. In Arber, S. & Ginn, J. (Eds.), Connecting gender and ageing: A sociological approach (pp. 87–97). Buckingham: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Bernard, J. (1976). The future of marriage. Harmondsworth: Penguin.Google Scholar
Bowling, A. (1994). Mortality after bereavement — an analysis of mortality rates and associations with mortality 13 years after bereavement. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 9(6), 445–459.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brannen, J. (1992). Money, marriage and motherhood: Dual earner households after maternity leave. In Arber, S. & Gilbert, N. (Eds.), Women and working lives: Divisions and change (pp. 54–70). London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brannen, J., & Wilson, G. (Eds.). (1987). Give and take in families. London: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Brody, E.M., Kleban, M.H., Hoffman, C., & Schoonover, C.B. (1988). Adult daughters and parent care: A comparison on one, two and three generation households. Home Health Care Services Quarterly, 9(4), 19–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dalley, G. (1993). Caring: A legitimate interest in older women. In Bernard, M. & Meade, K. (Eds.), Women come of age (pp. 106–125.). London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Davidson, K. (1999a). Marriage in retrospect: A study of older widows and widowers. In Miller, R. & Browning, S. (Eds.), With this ring: Divorce, intimacy and cohabitation from a multicultural perspective (pp. 127–145). Stamford, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Davidson, K. (1999b). Gender, age and widowhood: How older widows and widowers differently realign their lives. Unpublished Thesis, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.Google Scholar
Davidson, K. (2000). What we want: Older widows and widowers speak for themselves. Practice, 12(1), 45–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edgell, S. (1980). Middle-class couples. London: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Finch, J., & Groves, D. (1983). A labour of love: Women, work and caring. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Finch, J., & Summerfield, P. (1991). Social reconstruction and the emergence of companionate marriage, 1945–59. In Clark, D. (Ed.), Marriage, domestic life and social change (pp. 7–32). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Fletcher, R. (1973). The family and marriage in Britain. Harmondsworth: Penguin.Google Scholar
Ginn, J. & Arber, S. (1999). Changing patterns of pension inequality: The shift from state to private sources. Ageing and Society, 19(3), 319–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, H. (1983). Caring: A labour of love. In Finch, J. & Groves, D. (Eds.), A labour of love: Women, work and caring (pp. 13–30). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Holland, J., & Adkins, L. (Eds.). (1996). Sex, sensibility and the gendered body. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard, J., & Hollander, J. (1997). Gendered situations, gendered selves. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Hyrkas, K., Kaumonnen, M., & Paunonen, M. (1997). Recovering from the death of a spouse. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 25, 775–779.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kramer, B., & Lambert, J. (1999). Caregiving as a life course transition among older husbands: A prospective study. The Gerontologist, 39(6), 658–667.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lasch, C. (1997). Women and the common life: Love marriage and feminism. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Lewis, R. (1998). The impact of the marital relationship on the experience of caring for an elderly spouse with dementia. Ageing and Society, 18(2), 209–231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin-Matthews, A. (2000a). Change and diversity in aging families and inter-generational relations. In Mandell, N. & Duffy, A. (Eds.), Canadian families: Diversity, conflict and change (pp. 323–360). Toronto: Harcourt Brace.Google Scholar
Martin-Matthews, A. (2000b). Intergenerational caregiving: How apocalyptic and dominant demographies frame the questions and shape the answers. In Gee, E.M. & Gutman, G.M. (Eds.), The overselling of population aging: Apocalyptic demography, intergenerational challenges and social policy (pp. 64–79). Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mason, J. (1996). Gender, care and sensibility in family and kin relationships. In Holland, J. & Adkins, L. (Eds.), Sex, sensibility and the gendered body. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Parkes, C.M., & Weiss, R. (1983). Recovery from bereavement. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Parsons, T. (1956). Family, socialisation and interaction process. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Qureshi, H., & Walker, A. (1989). The caring relationship: Elderly people and their families. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, H., & Bruce, E. (1995). Mutual care but differential esteem: Caring between older couples. In Arber, S. & Ginn, J. (Eds.), Connecting gender and ageing (pp. 114–128.). Buckingham: Open University Press:Google Scholar
Rosenthal, C., Martin-Matthews, A., & Matthews, S. (1996). Caught in the middle? Occupancy in multiple roles and help to parents in a national probability sample of Canadian adults. Journal of Gerontology, 51B(6), S274–S283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Thompson, L. (1993). Conceptualizing gender in marriage: A case of marital care. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 55, 557–569.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ungerson, C. (Ed.). (1990). Gender and caring: Work and welfare in Britain and Scandinavia. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.Google Scholar