Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Do older women or older men report worse health? Questioning the ‘sicker’ older women assumption through a period and cohort analysis

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Social Theory & Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study questions the ‘misery perspective’ generally used to understand gender, ageing and health. Using the General Household Survey time-series data, the article explores the changes in self-reported health for men and women aged 65 years and over across cohorts and historical time in the United Kingdom. It is found that although gender difference in reporting poor health existed for those born between 1880 and 1920, the difference was not observed for those born between 1921 and 1940. It is also found that compared to the 1970s and 1980s, gender difference in reporting poor health in old age decreased in the early 1990s and diminished to a negligible level in the 2000s. The results challenge the conventional understanding of comparative disadvantage of older women in the literature and illuminate that historical timing plays a role in the relationship between gender and ageing.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alwin, D.F. and McCammon, R.J. (2003) Generations, cohorts and social change. In: J.T. Mortimer and M.J. Shanahan (eds.) Handbook of the Life Course. New York: Kluwer Academic, pp. 23–49.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Arber, S., Andersson, L. and Hoff, A. (2007) Changing approaches to gender and ageing. Current Sociology 55 (2): 147–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arber, S. and Cooper, H. (1999) Gender differences in health in later life: The new paradox? Social Science and Medicine 48 (1): 61–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arber, S. and Ginn, J. (1991) Gender and Later Life: A Sociological Analysis of Resources and Constraints. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arber, S. and Ginn, J. (1993) Gender and inequalities in health in later life. Social Science and Medicine 36 (1): 33–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arber, S. and Ginn, J. (1995) Connecting Gender and Ageing: A Sociological Approach. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnot, M., David, M. and Weiner, G. (1999) Closing the Gender Gap: Postwar Education and Social Change. Cambridge, MA: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beeson, D. (1975) Women in studies of ageing: A critique and suggestion. Social Problems 23: 52–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blaxter, M. (1990) Health and Lifestyles. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Chappell, N.L. and Havens, B. (1980) Old and female: Testing the double jeopardy hypothesis. Sociological Quarterly 21: 147–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Courtenay, W. (2002) A global perspective on the field of men’s health: An editorial. International Journal of Men′s Health 1 (1): 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cumming, E. and Henry, W.E. (1961) Growing Old: The Process of Disengagement. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dowd, J.J. and Bengtson, V.L. (1978) Aging and minority populations: An examination of the double jeopardy hypothesis. Journal of Gerontology 30: 584–594.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Döring, D., Hauser, R., Rolf, G. and Tibitanzl, F. (1994) Old-age security for women in the twelve EC countries. Journal of European Social Policy 4 (1): 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G.H. (1975) Age differentiation and the life course. Annual Review of Sociology 1: 165–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emslie, C., Hunt, K. and O'Brien, R. (2004) Masculinities in older men: A qualitative study in the west of Scotland. The Journal of Men’s Studies 12 (3): 207–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fennell, G. and Davidson, K. (2003) The invisible men? Older men in modern society. Ageing International 28 (4): 315–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleming, A.A. (1999) Older men in contemporary discourses on ageing: Absent bodies and invisible lives. Nursing Inquiry 6 (1): 3–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glen Jr, H.E., Johnson, M.K. and Crosnoe, R. (2003) The emergence and development of life course theory. In: J.T. Mortimer and M.J. Shanahan (eds.) Handbook of the Life Course. New York: Kluwer Academic, pp. 3–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glenn, N.D. (2003) Distinguishing age, period and cohort effects. In: J.T. Mortimer and M.J. Shanahan (eds.) Handbook of the Life Course. New York: Kluwer Academic, pp. 465–476.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Global Acting on Aging. (2002) Final declaration and recommendations of the world NGO forum on ageing, http://www.globalaging.org/waa2/documents/finaldeclarationandrecommendationsngoforum.doc, accessed 9 May 2009.

  • Gunnarsson, E. (2002) The vulnerable life course: Poverty and social assistance among middle-aged and older women. Ageing and Society 22: 709–728.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hearn, J. (1995) Imaging the aging of men. In: M. Featherstone and A. Wernick (eds.) Images of Aging: Cultural Representations of Later Life. London: Routledge, pp. 97–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hungerford, T.L. (2001) The economic consequences of widowhood on elderly women in the United States and Germany. Gerontologist 41: 103–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Idler, E.L. and Benyamini, Y. (1997) Self-rated health and mortality: A review of twenty-seven community studies. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 38 (1): 21–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, R.J. and Wolinsky, F.D. (1994) Gender, race and health: The structure of health status among older adults. Gerontologist 34: 24–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kandrack, M., Grant, K.R. and Segall, A. (1991) Gender differences in health related behaviour: Some unanswered questions. Social Science and Medicine 32 (5): 579–590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knodel, J. and Ofstedal, M.B. (2003) Gender and ageing in the developing world: Where are the men? Population and Development Review 29 (4): 677–698.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krekula, C. (2007) The intersection of age and gender: Reworking gender theory and social gerontology. Current Sociology 55 (2): 155–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lahelma, E., Martikainen, P., Rahkonen, O. and Silventoinen, K. (1999) Gender differences in ill health in Finland: Patterns, magnitude and change. Social Science and Medicine 48 (1): 7–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macintyre, S. (1993) Gender differences in the perceptions of common cold symptoms. Social Science and Medicine 36: 15–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macintyre, S., Hunt, K. and Sweeting, H. (1996) Gender differences in health: Are things really as simple as they seem? Social Science and Medicine 42 (4): 617–624.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marks, N.F. (1996) Socioeconomic status, gender and health at midlife: Evidence from the Wisconsin longitudinal study. Research in the Sociology of Health Care 13: 133–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mcmullin, J. (1995) Theorizing age and gender relations. In: S. Arber and J. Ginn (eds.) Connecting Gender and Ageing: A Sociological Approach. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press, pp. 173–199.

    Google Scholar 

  • McVittie, C. and Willock, J. (2006) You can’t fight windmills’: How older men do health, ill health, and masculinities. Qualitative Health Research 16 (6): 788–801.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miilunpalo, S., Vuori, I., Oja, P., Pasanen, M. and Urponen, H. (1997) Self-rated health status as a health measure: The predictive value of self-reported health status on the use of physician services and on mortality in the working-age population. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 50 (5): 517–528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miles, A. (1991) Women, Health and Medicine. Milton Keynes, UK: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mossey, J.M. and Shapiro, E. (1982) Self-rated health: A predictor of mortality among the elderly. American Journal of Public Health 72 (8): 800–808.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nathanson, C. (1975) Illness and the feminine role: A theoretical review. Social Science and Medicine 9: 57–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nathanson, C. (1977) Sex, illness and medical care: A review of data, theory and method. Social Science and Medicine 11: 13–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olson, L. (1992) ‘Aging is a Woman's Problem’: Issues faced by the female elderly population. In: J.E. Gubrium and K. Charmaz (eds.) Aging, Self and Community. London: JAI Press, pp. 265–276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rahman, O., Strauss, J., Gertler, P., Ashley, D. and Fox, K. (1994) Gender differences in adult health: An international comparison. Gerontologist 34: 463–469.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, C. (1987) Aging as a feminist issue. Women’s Studies International Forum 10: 125–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, C. (2007) What do older women and men want: Gender differences in the ‘lived experience’ of ageing. Current Sociology 55 (2): 173–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryder, N.B. (1965) The cohort as a concept in the study of social change. American Sociological Review 30: 843–861.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Settersten, R.A. (2006) Aging and the life course. In: R.H. Binstock and L.K. George (eds.) Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences. London: Academic Press, pp. 3–16.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sontag, S. (1972) The double standard of ageing. Saturday Review of the Society 23: 29–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, E.H. (1994) Older men as invisible men in contemporary society. In: E.H. Thompson (ed.) Older Men’s Lives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 1–21.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations. (2002) Madrid international plan on ageing, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing/madrid_intlplanaction.html, accessed 9 May 2009.

  • Uren, Z. (2006) The GHS Pseudo Cohort Dataset (GHSPCD): Introduction and Methodology. UK: Office for National Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verbrugge, L. (1979) Females and illness: Recent trends in sex differences in the United States. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour 17: 387–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waldron, I. (1983) Sex differences in illness incidence, prognosis and mortality: Issues and evidence. Social Science and Medicine 17 (16): 1107–1123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oxford Institute of Ageing, University of Oxford, 66 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 6PR, UK

    Yiu Tung Suen

Authors
  1. Yiu Tung Suen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Suen, Y. Do older women or older men report worse health? Questioning the ‘sicker’ older women assumption through a period and cohort analysis. Soc Theory Health 9, 71–86 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/sth.2010.6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/sth.2010.6

Keywords

Search

Navigation