The Phenomenon of Female Caretakers: An Invisible Effect of Aging

Abstract

This is an ethnographic study on female caretakers of elderly sick persons in a lower working-class urban neighborhood of Guadalajara. Several factors come into play in the choice of a daughter to be a caretaker: age, the presence or otherwise of unmarried daughters, whether or not they work and whether they are the youngest. When caretaker daughters are married, the one who has completed the phase of expanding the family cycle is chosen. Choosing caretakers is the role of the male or the patient himself. The role of caretaker is incorporated into the framework of the other social roles and generally occupies the most important position.