Aging and the Family-Work Link: A Comparative

¶ … Aging and the family-work link: A comparative analysis of two generations of Mexican women (1936-1938 and 1951-1953)" by Blanco and Pacheco can best be described as serviceable. The first sentence is not particularly 'catchy' and is somewhat awkward. "The implications of aging of the population in Mexico are complicated and in some respects, serious" (Blanco & Pacheco 2009: 143). However, the introduction does go on to explain specifically why dealing with Mexico's aging population is such a serious concern. The developing nation's pension system is in a crisis and covers only 30% of the nation's senior citizens; other forms of government support are inadequate and under-funded. The primary burden of eldercare falls upon women: women are considered to be the primary domestic caretakers of children and husbands; women must work to support their families working outside the home and now they increasingly have this additional burden of attending to the needs of the elderly. It is this issue that the article is primarily intended to address, even more so than the specific challenges of senior citizens themselves. Thus, there is a dual, descriptive purpose of the research study: to understand the complex phenomenon of aging in Mexico and the specific challenges that all women face in caring for older family members.

Although the lead-up to this stated purpose is somewhat circuitous (it is initially not clear if the article will focus upon aging in Mexico or the stressors placed upon female caregivers), towards the end of the introduction, the purpose and study design eventually becomes more apparent. The authors state that the will take a mixed methods approach, fusing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to bring clarity to this complex issue: the authors conducted their own research on the phenomenon of aging in Mexico as well as engaged in a literature review with both a quantitative and qualitative impetus. They also examined different personal life histories of women and how caregiving and the work-family problem have defined female Mexican's lives.