WHO CARES? Challenges of Women Aging in Contemporary Indonesia

Abstract

Even though not yet declared an aging society, Indonesia’s demographic transition is rapidly approaching that status. The numbers of the elderly continue to rise and at an ever-higher rate. As is the case elsewhere in the world, life expectancy for women is higher than for men, and the sex ratio which starts to favor males at birth reverses to favor women, currently only starting around retirement age and rising rapidly thereafter. While aging is a general concern of governments, the gender bias is not necessarily being attended to. It is the purpose of this paper to shed light on the gender bias and the consequences thereof on the ability of the elderly to access necessary services in their living arrangements, to close with a finding of the family being the main source of care.