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Women Growin Older: Psychological Perspectives. - book reviews

Age and Ageing, Nov, 1994 by Emily Grundy

Edited by C. L. Hayes

New York: Harrington Park Press. 1993. Published simultaneously as the Journal of Women & Ageing, Vol. 4, No. 4. 129 pp. Price US$14.95 (paperback)

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Common to both these volumes is the assumption, with which most would agree, `that the experiences of ageing are linked somehow to belonging in the category of female'. Women in Mid-life is edited by Christopher Hayes, an enthusiastic and innovatory exponent of pre-retirement planning for women. Hayes is concerned that `if current trends continue, our country [the USA] will inevitably duplicate another generation of tragically impoverished older women who are right now walking blindly into the last third of life' (p. xiii). His prescription is education and personal planning, particularly financial planning. Other contributors stress the need for long-term care insurance and for planning for emotional and social support. Several point out that although women now in mid-life have some advantages compared with their predecessors, notably better education and more involvement in the labour market, they are also more likely to experience divorce and an extended period of retirement. Hayes and his co-authors are to be commended for their work in encouraging women to think about later life. However, Hayes' suggestion that women should plan as though they will live to 100 and should aim to replace 65-70% of their salary on retirement seems an unrealistic goal for all but a small minority. Population ageing, economic restructuring and major social changes all suggest an urgent need for collective, as well as individual, planning if poverty among old women is to be prevented.

Women Growing Older is concerned with the psychology of ageing. In a lengthy introduction Barbara Turner reviews the theoretical background to this topic; useful for those who want to know what post-structuralism really is but are too embarrassed to ask. Other contributions include results from longitudinal studies of women in the Terman study (a follow-up of high IQ children) and women alumni of particular US colleges. Lillian E. Troll considers the family `connectedness' of old women; several contributors are concerned with changes in mid-life, such as divorce, and middle-aged women's uncertainties about appropriate developmental tasks.

In common with the Hayes volume, this book emphasizes the importance of viewing mid and later life as stages strongly influenced by prior experiences and circumstances.

In her introduction to this volume, Turner notes that contributors were asked to develop or apply psychological concepts to empirical data. Much of these empirical data come from small samples purposively, rather than randomly, drawn. This applies too to some of the studies described in Women in Mid-life. Hayes' own study of divorced women, for example, is based partly on members of the National Displaced Homemakers' Network. However, both books contain illuminating insights into aspects of women's midlife experiences and those concerned with the apparent limitations of some of the data used may turn to Turner for a review of feminist challenges to the epistemological foundations of the scientific method (pp. 7-10).

Health Care Industry

Women Growin Older: Psychological Perspectives. - book reviews

Age and Ageing, Nov, 1994 by Emily Grundy

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