Gender Differentials Regarding Dependency on Informal Financial Support Among Elderly in India
According to the UN World Population Prospects,2019 the ageing index of India is expected to increase 74.5 by 2050 and similarly the old age dependency ratio is expected to witness a steep rise up to 31.5 by 2050. With increasing dependency, the aged population also demands support; physical, mental, social and above all financial. With a developing, majority unorganised sectoral economy, India has reached to an advanced stage of demographic transition with fast ageing of population, but could not produce the required support system for all of them. The increasing life expectancy may ensure advancement in medical facilities but does not ensure healthy ageing. Economic dependence is one of the major disabilities that very often affect the wellbeing of older persons (Bhat et al., 2001). With high population wealth ratio European countries have the potential to meet the care needs of the elder citizens; whereas the whole region of Asia-Pacific is yet to establish strong systems of paid and unpaid care providers. The majority of the India’s older people do not receive any form of pension and are directly or indirectly dependent on someone in the family or in the local community for financial need (Khan 2014). However, in few decades, break-down of the joint family system into nuclear families, gradual changes in value system, migration of youth to urban areas for work and increasing women participation in workforce, have resulted in many elderlies receiving less than adequate care and attention ( Kumar & Kumar, 2019). economic dependency in India increases among the elderly mostly due to declining ability to work due to decrease in physical strength and mental abilities or due to retirement of a person from formal employment after a certain age. In India patrilineal and patriarchal structures place women in an unequal position both within the family and community. This asymmetric gender and power relationships means that women are disadvantaged at various stages of the life course, and these disadvantages accumulate over the life course. As a result, women enter old age with fewer resources. As state support is limited, the support from family becomes important (Domaraju, 2017).
