Elderly Women in the Nordic Countries; Level of Living and Situation in Life

A joint Nordic research project aiming to obtain more knowledge about the situation of elderly women, has been funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the authorities in each participating country (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). In essence and practice, the project is testing to what extent gender is a fruitful element in gerontological research, and whether high age as a topic can contribute to a better understanding of women’s situation. In other words, the project integrates two academic traditions; feminist research and gerontological research, thus creating feminist gerontology as a field of study. Analysing the data of Nordic level of living surveys, the research group studies the variations in “Norden” in the situation regarding of elderly women the following topics: family pattern, resources of social contact and care, morbidity and infirmity, education, work, material and economic resources and fear of violence. The study also includes a description of the demographic development in “Norden”.