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Gender and Relationship Status in Later Life

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Gender Equality

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

Definitions

This entry considers the literature on women ageing “solo” – defined as women who are not-partnered and who do not have children, for any number or combination of reasons. “Ageing” refers to women aged 60 years and above to account for the average age when women may retire from employment and eligible for a pension.

Introduction

The world’s population is ageing rapidly (United Nations 2015) and with increased longevity, the diversity of those moving into later life has the potential to challenge preconceptions and homogenization about ageing. The impact of relationship status for women in later life is one such theme that is emerging from the literature (DePaulo 2006; Lahad 2016; Hafford-Letchfield et al. 2017; Lambert et al. 2018; Khan et al. 2018). This nexus of ageing, gender, and relationship status offers a new conceptual lens for reviewing and extending the research on ageing. Different conceptual lenses can be useful for those developing ageing policy, in...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work and Social Policy, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

    Trish Hafford-Letchfield

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  1. Trish Hafford-Letchfield
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Correspondence to Trish Hafford-Letchfield .

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  1. European School of Sustainability, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Center for Neuroscience & Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

  3. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

  4. HAW Hamburg, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Amanda Lange Salvia

  5. International Centre for Thriving, University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

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  1. University Of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tamara Hunt

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Hafford-Letchfield, T. (2020). Gender and Relationship Status in Later Life. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A.M., Brandli, L., Lange Salvia, A., Wall, T. (eds) Gender Equality. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70060-1_104-1

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