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Gender, Aging, And The Evolving Arab Patriarchal Contract

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  • Jennifer Olmsted

Abstract

Within Arab societies, a strong patriarchal contract has given elderly women a claim to economic resources, power within the household and community, and access to the public sphere. But in most communities, few alternatives to the patriarchal contract exist, placing women in a vulnerable situation. In the absence of strong state-sponsored social safety nets, elderly women without male kin or whose kin do not or cannot fulfill this contract are vulnerable to poverty and neglect. Using secondary data sources and previous studies, I describe the factors contributing to the patriarchal contract in the Arab world and the general conditions facing the elderly. Drawing on earlier field work, I then discuss in more detail how the Palestinian elderly are faring, particularly in light of recent Israeli policies. Finally, I argue that Arab cultures and economies are in transition, which raises questions about how future cohorts of elderly women will fare.

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  • Jennifer Olmsted, 2005. "Gender, Aging, And The Evolving Arab Patriarchal Contract," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 53-78.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:11:y:2005:i:2:p:53-78
    DOI: 10.1080/13545700500115860
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gaurav Datt & Dean Jolliffe & Manohar Sharma, 2001. "A Profile of Poverty in Egypt," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 13(2), pages 202-237.
    2. Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Haddad, Lawrence James & Peña, Christine, 2001. "Are women overrepresented among the poor?," FCND briefs 115, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. World Bank, 2004. "Gender and Development in the Middle East and North Africa : Women in the Public Sphere," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15036.
    4. Olmsted, Jennifer, 1996. "Women "manufacture" economic spaces in Bethlehem," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(12), pages 1829-1840, December.
    5. Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Haddad, Lawrence & Pena, Christine, 2001. "Are women overrepresented among the poor? An analysis of poverty in 10 developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 225-269, October.
    6. Janice Peterson & Margaret Lewis (ed.), 1999. "The Elgar Companion to Feminist Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1129.
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    Cited by:

    1. Caruso Raul & Gavrilova Evelina, 2012. "Youth Unemployment, Terrorism and Political Violence, Evidence from the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 18(2), pages 1-37, August.
    2. L. Lambert D’raven & N. Pasha-Zaidi, 2016. "Using the PERMA Model in the United Arab Emirates," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(3), pages 905-933, February.
    3. Meltem Ucal & Simge Günay, 2019. "Female employment status: a survey analysis of selected member states of the Arab League," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(3), pages 373-394, September.
    4. Sarah Guilland Carmichael, 2011. "Marriage and Power: Age at first marriage and spousal age gap in Lesser Developed Countries," Working Papers 0015, Utrecht University, Centre for Global Economic History.
    5. Yara Jarallah, 2022. "The ties that bind? Marriage formation, consanguinity and war in Lebanon and Palestine," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 97-132, March.

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