In India, single older women bear a disproportionate burden of marginalisation, a reality that is frequently ignored in public discourse and policymaking. This demographic faces a unique intersection of challenges stemming from their gender, age, and other intersecting identities like caste, religion, disability, and sexual orientation. These factors combine to exacerbate their dependency on others and deprive them of agency in their twilight years.
As per the recent India Ageing Report 2023 by UNFPA, India’s elderly population is projected to double by 2050—from 153 million to 347 million—and the population aged 80+ is set to grow by 279%. The majority of this cohort will be highly dependent, widowed women. As per the Census 2011, while the sex ratio at birth 940:1000 is skewed towards boys; for the elderly population (60+), it is reversed to 1033:1000 and projected to increase to 1060:1000 by 2026. Looking deeper, there are 1,310, 1,590, 1,758 & 1,980 elderly women respectively per 1,000 older men, at the age of 65,70,75 and 80 respectively, demonstrating the glaring trend of feminisation of ageing, as highlighted in the India Ageing Report 2023.
Gendered burdens in ageing
Although the role of women in families and societies has evolved over the past century, women are still responsible for much of the care work in families and communities. Socio-cultural norms continue to relegate caregiving and household responsibilities to women, even as they age, across the world, but more so in deeply patriarchal societies like India. Gendered caregiving and household responsibilities get aggravated for single older women, particularly in the context of living with their family, because of the urge to be useful.
In the age group of 80 years and above, 71 % of women lose their spouses. Consequently loneliness, lack of financial autonomy and their dependency on family members for care, amplifies their vulnerabilities multifold. Research on widows in India points towards high levels of poverty among older women in India, upon becoming widows. The analysis by Agewell Foundation points towards older women experiencing human rights violations in the form of discrimination, mistreatment, harassment and elder abuse, stemming from two types of poverty, specifically for older women:
Core poverty, where older women face deprivation of basic necessities including nutritious food, clean drinking water and sanitation, shelter, and healthcare.
Relative poverty, where older women, due to high levels of illiteracy, lack of social protection, lack of awareness about their rights and powers, often become soft targets and are unable to exercise their agency, over their own money, or in seeking care.
The scanty research available suggests older women experience higher rates of physical and psychological violence. Further demographic shifts and rapid urbanisation, with evolving nuclear family structures result in more older women living alone and struggling to manage their health and well-being by themselves, without much socio-economic support available.
Existing gaps in policy responses and research
Despite programmes aimed at supporting India’s ageing population, including the National Policy for Older Persons (1999, 2011), Old Age Pension Schemes, National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly (NPHCE) and Elderline: National Helpline for Senior Citizens, these initiatives often fail to address the compounded marginalities faced by single older women. The National Policy for Older Persons 1999 focused on social and community services in a mobility-friendly way, with revisions in 2011 bringing safety and security, gendered implications and health and disability. Old Age Pension and Widow Pension Schemes through the Ministry of Rural Development have limited reach and grossly inadequate amounts with challenges in disbursement. Further, the NPHCE claims to focus on preventive and promotive care, management of illness, strengthening geriatric services, and guaranteeing optimal rehabilitation, along with providing relevant information to citizens. Similarly, the National Helpline for Senior Citizens claims to provide information and support related to old age homes, caregivers, daycare centres, hospitals and doctors, address pension related queries, provide emotional and any other support related to accessing care. There are programmes and schemes for older populations at the state level such as Sandhya Suraksha Yojana in Karnataka, Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhati in Kerala, Nirashi Pension in Chhattisgarh, but have very limited reach and awareness levels.
The reach of these programmes is found to be limited by a) their individual narrow focus, b) the assumption of older population as a homogenous group with similar needs across various intersecting identities of gender, age, disability, religion, caste, socio-economic backgrounds etc., c) lack of clear monitoring and evaluation frameworks to assess progress, and d) lack of gender and age-disaggregated data for specific older population sub-groups, to help redirect the focus towards needed areas. Consequently, the current programmes miss out on their huge potential of addressing intersectional impacts of socio-cultural, economic and demographic changes in older population groups and sub-groups.
With limited evidence available on how these programmes and policies are performing against their promises and claimed objectives, it becomes challenging to identify areas of improvement to address the changing needs of this demographic group. The 2011 National Policy for Senior Citizens recognises gendered implications of ageing on paper, but the programmes do not address the specific needs of older women or single older women as a sub-group. Studies mapping existing knowledge and research gaps around health and social care of older women, across the world point towards the consistent lack of gender analysis of older population’s health. Older women’s needs remain largely invisible in both academic research and policy frameworks. Women’s health research predominantly focuses on reproductive health, neglecting the specific needs of women beyond their reproductive years. The gendered burden compounded with other intersectional challenges makes seeking and accessing care challenging for single older women, revealing the need for specific research to understand these layers and experiences through a range of in-depth qualitative methodologies. This needs to be complemented with gender-and age-disaggregated data on health and social indicators. The Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030 have a dedicated goal on Gender Equality – SDG 5 – but none of the targets or indicators are dedicated to issues of older women.
A call for intersectional solutions
The WHO Active Ageing Framework 2007 emphasises using a life-course approach, a gender and age-based approach and a determinants approach to understanding the situation of the older population better. However, nearly 18 year later, there is still very little evidence to demonstrate translation of this framework into the design and implementation of programmes targeted for older population groups, and sub-groups. An intersectional lens to understanding these aspects, thus becomes imperative, to inform gender-responsive ageing and healthcare policies in India, ensuring older women receive the support needed.
Equity and social justice for elderly women should not be an afterthought. As the population of single older women grows, so does the moral and societal obligation to address their struggles. By shining a spotlight on their experiences, we can begin to dismantle the structural barriers they face and foster a society that values and supports its most vulnerable members.
The time to act is now!
(Dr. Deepika Saluja is Thought Leadership Advisor & Program Manager – The Ubuntu Initiative for Building Partnerships in Africa, The George Institute for Global Health; Maarinke van der Meulen is Program Lead, Global Thought Leadership, Impact & Engagement, The George Institute for Global Health; Renu Khanna is Distinguished Fellow, The George Institute for Global Health)
Published – March 20, 2025 03:10 pm IST