Meaning of housework and other unpaid responsibilities among older women.
This study explores the meaning and conditions of housework and other unpaid responsibilities for older women. Taped, in-person interviews were conducted with 53 ethnically and economically diverse women, 55-84 years old. The interview guide contained open-ended questions regarding the process of taking on housework and other unpaid responsibilities and the centrality to personal identity. Participants reported shifts in perceptions of housework as work, decreased importance of housework with age, the attitude of care recipients affecting the experience and meaning of unpaid responsibilities, and the impact of historical racist events on viewing unpaid responsibilities as opportunity.
Altschuler
Joanne
J
California State University, Los Angeles, School of Social Work, Simpson Tower F 808, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA, 90032, USA.
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005382:Financing, Personal; D005783:Gender Identity; D006379:Helping Behavior; D006796:Household Work / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D015141:Los Angeles; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012649:Self Concept; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*; D014937:Work / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology*