Chapter 13 Women and Ethnic Groups

This chapter covers women and ethnic groups.  Financial status is an area covered within the chapter.   Women are considered the most poor in the United States.  According to (Shaker, 2006) women earn on average 76 percent less than men, which results in having less money to invest that men do.  They also have lower retirement incomes as well.  Women also face a double standard in aging.  When a women ages, her sense of beauty and self-worth diminishes.  Throughout the life of a woman, there is a lot of pressure to preserve a youthful appearance and there is an emphasis is staying attractive.  Many women will go to whatever lengths are necessary in an attempt to preserve their looks.   Elder African American women face issues such as living in substandard housing.  They are also more likely than whites to live in public housing and experience health care problems.  Many of these elders lack the resources for adequate health care throughout their lives which can result in lower life expectancy rates.  The Hispanic population also has a high rate of living below the poverty level, suffer from inadequat4e health care, have high rates of illiteracy, and lower occupational levels.  Ethnic elders across the board suffer from inequalities in America.  Many face obstacles such as poverty and having limited access to health care.  They may have language and cultural barriers which make it difficult to adjust to living in the United States and their socioeconomic status is lower than their white counter parts



Hillier, S.M. and Barrow, G.M. (2007). Aging, the  individual and society. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.