Evaluation of women's labor as part of gender roles in informal elder care

ABSTRACT Objective: Care for older adults in Turkey is mostly performed by family members on informal basis. Among the family members, women are the primary caregivers. The aim of the study is to put forth how the gender roles related to care of older people are shaped in the context of female labour. Method: Care labour is approached from the perspective of feminism. Experiences of participants in caregiving, their interpretations associated with gender,and their perception of caregiving labor are analyzed on the basis of a qualitative investigation, which rests on interviewing technique. Accordingly, interviews with five women and five men, who are giving care to older people, were undertaken. This thesis takes a feminist approach to caregiving labor. Results: Three themes were identified for the analysis of care for older people, namely; caregiving process, division of labor in the care of older people and caregiving labor. It was found that the integration of housework with caregiving negatively affects women in physical, psychological, and social aspects. Another important finding is that there is an unequal and unfair division of labor in the family during caregiving process. Conclusion: There are qualitative and quantitative differences in the caregiving labor of men and women. On the other hands, there is no material expectation in return for caregiving effort. Furthermore,caring for older people has a moral significance.These are viewed as the elements that contribute to the invisibility of women's labor. Keywords: informal care of older adults, invisible women's labor, gender, feminist theory, qualitative research