ABSTRACT
This article is about the familization and defamilization risks faced by older women. Such risks are generated by the lack of one or both of two conditions: the freedom to choose whether or not to perform certain family roles; and the capacity to maintain a reasonable standard of living. Examples are drawn from findings of a qualitative study in Hong Kong, in which 40 older women aged 65 or above were interviewed to discuss their experiences of issues relating to the risks and their diverse preferences of how these issues should be handled.
Subject(s)
Activities of Daily Living , Family , Income , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Family Characteristics , Female , Hong Kong , Humans , Interviews as Topic , Pensions , Qualitative Research , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
This article is concerned with the link between the effects of pro-market pension reforms on women and familization/defamilization measures. It aims to contribute to the study of this link in three ways. Firstly, it identifies defamilization/familization measures that have the potential to reduce negative effects of pro-market pension measures on women. Secondly, based on the examples from the United Kingdom, it shows that the government's willingness to provide sufficient defamilization/familization measures to assist women to deal with the negative effects of the pro-market pension measures should not be taken for granted. Thirdly, it suggests ways for tackling this problem.