Kadın Emeğinin Bir Başka Görünümü: Informal Yaşlı Bakımı

Abstract

One of the main problems of aging and what old age brings with it in today's societies is the issue of caring for the elderly who need help physically, economically and socio-psychologically. Not every social classes have access to home care services provided by public and private institutions for a fee. Especially, the worsening of living conditions and the problems caused by economic inadequacies have brought up the problematic of accessibility to these services. When the care service cannot be provided from institutional areas, especially women from family members take on great responsibilities for elderly care. The provision of care service by the women in the family can also be seen as a continuation of the sexist division of labor. This study is based on understanding of the problems experienced by women who care for elderly people (parents or parents-in-law) at home informally through their conversations. Within the scope of the research, in-depth interviews were conducted with 40 female participants from the lower and middle class of Denizli. According to the findings of the research, a significant part of women who take care of the elderly, regardless of social class, stated that they have psychological problems, their participation in social life is limited, they have economic difficulties and they question more about their old age.