title: Long-term care for elder women in Spain: advances and limitations.
abstract: In Spain, elder women are the largest group in need of long-term care. Significant improvements in this issue took place between 2007 and 2011, thanks to the Dependency Law (2006). But severe limitations showed the difficulty of overcoming the historical backwardness of Spanish social policy. This article describes the situation of Spanish people with dependency in activities of daily living. It analyzes changes driven by this law, especially in their impacts on elder women. It assesses the extent to which those changes can alter the traditional model of care. There are three major findings: First, measures promoted by the law have improved the previous situation but are incapable of developing a new model. Care for elders still relies on family, with lack of professionalism, little socialization, and expanding commodification. Second, the current care model is fundamentally detrimental to older women and women caregivers. Third, this kind of model hinders the overcoming of gender inequalities in intrafamily, generational, and social relations.
authors.affiliation: a Professor of Applied Economics , Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , Campus de Cantoblanco, Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: María-Jesús
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Vara
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000191:economics* / Q000600:supply & distribution; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D008297:Male; D012944:Social Support; D013030:Spain; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: Spanish Dependency Law; activities of daily living dependency; elder women; female migration; long-term care