How sexism hits older women hard later in life

Key points:

• Older women are more likely than older men to be victims of both intergenerational and intimate partner violence, according to a 2022 report from OurWatch Australia

• Despite Australian women living on average longer than men and retiring sooner, they have approximately a third less super than men as they approach retirement, based on Super Members Council interpretations of Australian Taxation Office data

• Older women’s participation in the labour market is significantly lower than men’s in all age groups — as much as 17 points lower for women aged 55 – 64

Researchers claimed that most studies on gendered discrimination have not examined well-being over time or have focused on younger women, leading to a new investigation on how older women are impacted by sexism.

The study, published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on March 20, 2024, analysed data from 3,081 women enrolled in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, which follows a large group of people over 50 years of age.

One in 11 women aged 52 years and over reported that they had experienced gender discrimination, which was linked with more depressive symptoms, more loneliness and lower quality of life.

In 2010 or 2011, each woman answered questions about how often they encountered different discriminatory situations, such as being harassed or being treated with less respect or courtesy and whether they attributed that discrimination to their gender or another characteristic, such as race or age.

At two points in time, each woman also answered standardised surveys to evaluate their mental well-being; once in 2010 or 2011 and again in 2016 or 2017.

Of the women surveyed, 9.2 percent reported perceived gender discrimination, most commonly in situations where they were treated with less respect or courtesy.

Between the two time points, they were more likely to report declines in quality of life and life satisfaction, as well as increased loneliness.

These results remained accurate after statistically accounting for other well-being-related factors, such as age, wealth and physical activity.

The findings suggest that perceived gender discrimination may be linked to declines in mental well-being for middle-aged and older women, prompting researchers from King’s College London to call for more efforts to address gender discrimination.

First author Ruth Hackett, along with researchers Myra Hunter and Sarah Jackson, found that ‘middle-aged and older women who perceived sexism were more likely to be depressed and lonely than women who did not perceive sexism.’

“These women also reported low levels of life satisfaction and poor quality of life,” the researchers said.

“The study findings are particularly concerning as they indicate an enduring impact of gender-based discrimination on mental health and well-being six years later.”

In Australia, women are more likely to have lower levels of superannuation, little or no equity in a home and negligible savings for later in life, according to Council on the Ageing South Australia.

To address gender and financial inequality, the government will pay 12 percent superannuation for workers taking Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave commencing July 1, 2025.

The vast majority — 99.5 percent — of the estimated 180,000 yearly PPL recipients are women.

What would you like to see change for the well-being of older women later in life? Let the team at Talking Aged Care know and subscribe to the newsletter for more news, information and industry updates.

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