Unique challenges facing older Australian women in the early 21st century
Abstract
Have the rights and improvements women fought for in the 20th century provided better outcomes for them as older women today? This article explores recent literature to uncover unique and significant challenges faced by older women in Australian, and similar ‘Western’, contexts. While sexism and ageism are challenges implied by the question above, contemporary literature also reveals that long-term exposure to domestic violence and abuse, penalties endured for unpaid caring, systemic gendered financial handicaps and intersecting minority vulnerabilities all contribute to poorer life outcomes. Financial and housing insecurity emerge as critically urgent disparities. The article concludes by exploring some ideas addressing the challenges through critical social work practices and further social research.
References
Ainsworth, S. (2002). The ‘feminine advantage’: A discursive analysis of the invisibility of older women workers. Gender, Work and Organisation, 9(5), 579-601.
Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS]. (2005). 4102.0 Australian social trends 2005: Income distribution: Female/male earnings. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/2f762f95845417aeca25706c00834efa/bac94ebf241b1c9cca25703b0080ccc8!OpenDocument
Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS]. (2015). Disability, ageing and caring Australia: Summary findings, 2015: A profile of carers in Australia. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/DetailsPage/4430.02015?OpenDocument
Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] (2016). Census of population and housing: Estimating homelessness, 2016: Key findings. Retrieved November 27th, 2019 from: https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Latestproducts/2049.0Main%20Features12016?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=2049.0&issue=2016&num=&view=#
Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] (2018). Recorded crime victims, Australia, 2017: Media release: Recording of sexual assaults reaches eight-year high. Retrieved September 20th, 2018 from: https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/by%20Subject/4510.0~2017~Media%20Release~Recording%20of%20sexual%20assaults%20reaches%20eight-year%20high%20(Media%20Release)~16
Australian Council of Social Services [ACOSS]. (2016). Poverty in Australia 2016. Strawberry Hills, Australia: Australia Council of Social Services. Retrieved from https://www.acoss.org.au/poverty/
Australian Human Rights Commission [AHRC]. (2016) Women’s rights. Retrieved from https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/education/womens-rights
Brockie, J. (Presenter) (2017). Women on the edge. In Insight: Season 2017: Episode 27. [Television Program Online] Retrieved from https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/1024460867653/insight-women-on-the-edge 8.10.2018
Chrisler, J. C., Barney, A. and Palatino, B. (2016). Ageism can be hazardous to women’s health: Ageism, sexism and stereotypes of older women in the healthcare system. Journal of Social Issues, 72(1), 86-104.
Commonwealth of Australia [COA], (2018). Australian government response to the senate economics references committee report: ‘A husband is not a retirement plan’: Achieving economic security for women in retirement. Canberra, Australia: Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved from https://www.pmc.gov.au/resource-centre/office-women/government-response-husband-not-retirement-plan-achieving-economic-security-women-retirement
Cowie, A. J. (2009). A history of married women’s real property rights. Australian journal of gender and law, 6, 1-21. Retrieved from http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AUJlGendLaw/2009/6.pdf
Crockett, C., Brandl, B. and Dabby, F. C. (2015). Survivors in the margins: The invisibility of violence against older women. Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, 27, 291-302.
Dannefer, D., Stein, P., Siders, R. and Patterson, R. S. (2008). Is that all there is? The concept of care and the dialectic of critique. Journal of Aging Studies, 22, 101-108.
Department of Human Services. (2018). Payment rates for age pension. Retrieved from https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/enablers/payment-rates-age-pension/39901
Dressed For Success Sydney (2018). Client services. Retrieved October, 1st, 2018 from: https://sydney.dressforsuccess.org/client-services/
Dune, T., Stewart, J., Tronc, W., Lee, V., Mapedzahama, V., Firdaus, R. and Mekonnen, T. (2018). Resilience in the face of adversity: narratives from ageing Indigenous women in Australia. International Journal of Social Science Studies, 6(3), 63-78.
Family and Community Services. (2018). Median weekly rent: March 2018 quarter. https://public.tableau.com/profile/facs.statistics#!/vizhome/RentandSales/Rent
Featherstone, L. (2017). ‘That’s what being a woman is for’: Opposition to marital rape law reform in late-twentieth century Australia. Gender & History, 29(1), 87-103.
Ford, D. (2018). LGBTIQ people: Ageing well: Final report. Port Adelaide, Australia: Council of the Ageing and South Australian Rainbow Alliance. Retrieved from https://www.cotasa.org.au/programs/lgbtiq-people-ageing-well.aspx 10.10.2018
Foucault, M. (1990) [1976]. The history of sexuality: An introduction: Volume 1. New York: USA, Vintage Books Random House Inc.
Frericks, P., Maier, R. and de Graff, W. (2008). Male norms and female adjustments: The influence of care credits on gender pension gaps in France and Germany. European Societies, 10(1), 97-119.
Friedan, B. (1994). The fountain of age. London, UK: Vintage.
Gibson, D. (2003). Getting better will take some time: The effects of social policy on four generations of older women. Australian Feminist Studies, 18(41), 173-186.
Habibis, D. and Walter, M. (2015). Social inequality in Australia: Discourses, realities and futures. South Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.
Hands, T. (2007). Aboriginal customary law: The challenge of recognition. Alternative Law Journal, 32 (1), 42-43.
Heath, M., Deakin-Greenwood, T., Robinson, C., Martin, R., Mason, L., Smith, J. and Dunwoodie, J. (2011). Aboriginal women speaking out about violence: Is anyone listening? Indigenous Law Bulletin, 7 (23), 26-30.
Hitchcock, K. (2015). Dear life: On caring for the elderly. Quarterly Essay, 57, 1-78.
Inkling Group (2018). Inhouse programs [for women’s leadship]. Retrieved October 1st, 2018 from: https://inkling.group/inhouse-programs/#womens
Irwin, J. (2016). Working for equality and difference: (de) constructing heteronormativity. In B. Pease, S. Goldingay, N. Hosken and S. Nipperess, (Ed.s) Doing Critical Social Work: Transforming Practices for Social Justice, 241-253. Crows Nest, Australia: Arena Books / Allen and Unwin.
Jordan, B. (2004). Social work: Opportunity or oxymoron? British Journal of Social Work, 34(1), 5-19.
Kosteck, T. (2016). Developing anti-ageist practice in social work. In B. Pease, S. Goldingay, N. Hosken and S. Nipperess, (Ed.s) Doing Critical Social Work: Transforming Practices for Social Justice, 241-253. Crows Nest, Australia: Arena Books / Allen and Unwin.
Laschon, E. (2019, September 5th). Domestic violence still at ‘unprecedented’ levels despite hundreds of millions being spent.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation [online news]. Retrieved September 5th, 2019 from: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-05/an-australia-free-from-all-forms-of-violence-and-abuse-against/11470584
Leigh-Hunt, N., Bagguley, D., Bash, K., Turner, V., Turnbull, S., Valtorta, N., and Caan, W. (2017). An overview of systematic reviews on the public health consequences of social isolation and loneliness. Public Health, 152, 157-171.
Macrae, H. (2018). ‘My opinion is that doctors prefer younger people: older women, physicians and ageism. Ageing and Society, 38, 240-266.
Manne, A. (2010). The question of care. In R. Manne and D. McKnight, (Ed.s.), Goodbye to all that?: On the failure of neo-liberalism & the urgency of change, (pp.147-180). Melbourne Australia: Black Inc. Agenda.
McFerran, L. (2010). It could be you: Female, single, older and homeless. Woolloomooloo, Australia: Homelessness NSW, The Older Women’s Network, Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearing House.
McGann, M., Ong, R., Bowman, D., Duncan, A., Kimberly, H. and Biggs, S. (2016). Gendered ageism in Australia: Changing perceptions of age discrimination among older men and women. Economic Papers, 35(4), 375-388.
McKnight, D. (2010). Labour’s market in public services. In R. Manne and D. McKnight, (Ed.s.), Goodbye to all that?: On the failure of neo-liberalism & the urgency of change, (pp.147-180). Melbourne Australia: Black Inc. Agenda.
McPhail, R. and Fulop, L. (2016). Champion’s perspectives on implementing the national lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex ageing and aged care strategy in Queensland. Australian Health Review, 40, 633-640.
Meetup (2018). Women’s business networking groups in Sydney. Retrieved October, 1st, 2018 from: https://www.meetup.com/en-AU/topics/womens-business-networking/au/sydney/?_cookie-check=QAuySltoXcF1bWXD
Montefiore. (2016). Montefiore Life: Chanukah 2016. Sydney, Australia: Author.
National Museum of Australia. (n.d.). Defining moments in Australian history: Equal pay for women. Retrieved from http://www.nma.gov.au/online_features/defining_moments/featured/equal_pay_for_women
NSW Department of Family and Community Services (2018). Expected waiting times: Guide to waiting times for social housing as at 30 June 2018. Retrieved October 1st, 2018 from: https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/housing/help/applying-assistance/expected-waiting-times
Payne, M. (2014). Modern social work theory. (4th ed.) Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pease, B. (2002). Rethinking empowerment: A postmodern reappraisal for emancipatory practice. British Journal of Social Work, 32, 135-147.
Pease, B. and Nipperess, S. (2016). Doing critical social work in the neoliberal context: Working on the contradictions. In B. Pease, S. Goldingay, N. Hosken and S. Nipperess, (Ed.s) Doing Critical Social Work: Transforming Practices for Social Justice, 241-253. Crows Nest, Australia: Arena Books / Allen and Unwin.
Petersen, M. and Parsell, C. (2014). Older women’s pathways out of homelessness in Australia: Report for the Mercy Foundation. Indooroopilly, Australia: Institute of Social Science Research, University of Queensland. Retrieved from https://www.mercyfoundation.com.au/older-women-homelessness/ 29.9.2018
Phillips, R. (2018). Emancipatory social work with older people: challenging students to overcome the limitations of ageism and institutional oppression. Social Work and Policy Studies: Social Justice, Practice and Theory, 1(1). Retrieved August 26th, 2018 from: https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/index.php/SWPS/article/view/11733/11518
Rivest, M. and Moreau, N. (2015). Between emancipatory practice and disciplinary interventions: Empowerment and contemporary social normativity. British Journal of Social Work, 45, 1855-1870.
Senate Economic References Committee [SERC]. (2016). A husband is not a retirement plan: Achieving economic security for women in retirement. Canberra, Australia, Senate Printing Unit. Retrieved from https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/Economic_security_for_women_in_retirement/Report
Sharam, A. (2008). Going it alone: Single, low needs women and hidden homelessness. Brunswick, Australia: Women’s Information, Support and Housing in the North. Retrieved from http://apo.org.au/node/41394 2.10.2018.
Sharam, A. (2010). A predictable crisis: Older, single women as the new face of homelessness. Parity, Vol. 23(10), 21-22.
Sheehan, G.,Chrzanowski, A. and Dewar, J. (2008). Superannuation and divorce in Australia: An evaluation of post-reform practice and settlement outcomes. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family. 22, 206-230.
Shemirani, F. S. and O’Connor, D. L. (2006). Aging in a foreign country: Voices of Iranian women aging in Canada. Journal of Women & Aging, 18(2), 73-90.
Skinner, N., Hutchinson, C. and Pocock, B. (2012). Australian work-life index 2012: The big squeeze: Work, home and care in 2012. Adelaide, Australia: Centre for Work + Life, University of South Australia. Retrieved from https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/AWALI2012-National%5B1%5D.pdf
Tatham, H. (2018, September 6th). Drag queens move in and brighten the lives of Sydney aged care village. Australian Broadcasting Corporation [online news]. Retrieved October 1st, 2018 from: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-28/drag-queens-in-aged-care-brighten-lives-of-residents/10169978
Tually, S., Beer, A. and Faulkner, D. (2007). Too big to ignore: Future issues for Australian women’s housing: 2006-2025. Melbourne, Australia: Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. Retrieved from http://web.archive.org/web/20110411012506/http://www.socsci.flinders.edu.au/ahuri.src/docs/toobigtoignoreReportFINAL2.pdf
Waring, M. (2016). Thirty years later: Are we still ‘counting for nothing’? Proceeding of the Shifting Gears: Transitioning to the Future Economy: Parkland Institute’s 20th Annual Conference. Alberta, Canada: Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPMGaY84-3w 29.9.2018
Wolf, V. (2009), [1928]. A room of one’s own. Melbourne, Australia: Penguin Group Australia.
Workplace Gender Equality Agency [WGEA], (n.d.) What is the gender pay gap? Retrieved from https://www.wgea.gov.au/addressing-pay-equity/what-gender-pay-gap
World Health Organization [WHO], (2003). Gender, health and ageing. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/gender-equity-rights/knowledge/a85586/en/ 9.10.2018
Yates, J., and Bradbury, B. (2010). Home ownership as a (crumbling) fourth pillar of social insurance in Australia. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 25(2), 193-211.
