Evolving gender differences in health & care across cohorts (FUTUREGEN GNP66)

Women live, on average, longer than men, but live a greater portion of their lives in poor health. In old-age and in relation to older men, women are more likely to use care services and to be informal care-givers. Older adults` health and care are two clear examples of existing inequalities between men and women. FUTUREGEN aims to understand how GENder inequalities in health and care-giving and receiving evolve across GENerations in connection with changing cultural and social contexts and individual life choices, and how identified gender inequalities may evolve in the FUTURE. Current gender differences in health and care can be attributed to current circumstances and to how people lived their lives. Both are changing, but we presently know little about how these changes are shaping current gender inequalities in health and care and therefore cannot predict or ameliorate future gender differences. Are health inequalities between men and women narrowing as women achieve greater economic independence? Will shifting cultural norms mean future generations of older men will provide more care? How are gender inequalities in health and care tied to socioeconomic conditions? As men and women have been found to self-assess their health differently, which measures of health avoid gender bias? To answer these questions for Europe and North America, the FUTUREGEN team will build on the multidisciplinary expertise of its members to 1) apply novel quantitative methods to comparable international datasets and 2) obtain older peoples views through participatory research methods. FUTUREGEN will take a dynamic approach to gender inequalities in health and care across time and place that will shed light on the impact of past and current policies and societal changes. This will advance scientific knowledge in the area but will also allow public policies to proactively mitigate future drivers of gender inequalities. Having in-depth knowledge of the interaction of gender and socio-economic conditions (for example, class, education, wealth) will allow for better targeting of public policies across different groups.

No additional funding sources recorded.