Women majority over 65, often alone and discriminated against

In Italy women represent the 60% of the population is over 65 and often finds themselves living a double discrimination: by age and by gender. A peculiarity, that of the lives of elderly women, which will be at the centre of the meeting, which will be held today in Rome, organized by the Athena Foundation with the scientific society Giseg (Group Italian health and gender) and in collaboration with the foundation Great age, presided over by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, in on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the National Health Day of women. The aim is to underline the importance of a gender-specific medicine, with particular reference to to older women. "After the age of 65, almost two thirds of the years are spent with functional limitations", explains Monsignor Paglia. "Conditions often experienced in solitude, precisely as a consequence of the Greater longevity: almost half of women over 75 live alone in a condition of social isolation that exposes them to dementia and cardiovascular diseases," Paglia continues. "Due to a discriminatory context, these women have less access to care, social opportunities and the limited job market reserved for those over 65 - adds Paglia -. The consequences are many: in 2021, 35% of women killed were over 65 years". Yet, these women often represent a pillar for many families. "In Italy, unpaid care work carried out from women (75% elderly and adults) amounts to over 23 billion hours per year, for an estimated economic value of approximately 50 billion euros - concludes Paglia. - The contribution of older women is not limited to direct assistance: the 92.8% of grandmothers help their children's families financially and 3 out of 4 they look after their grandchildren".