Gender as a social determinant of family caregiving

Stress and the sudden change in the family functioning almost always lead to an overwhelming mental, emotional and financial burden but even more so to a serious medical conditions faced by the caregivers themselves. Changes in a way of thinking, handling one’s own emotions etc. can progress slowly and simultaneously with the next phases of the care recipient’s illness but can also turn very dramatic. Depending on the family structure, these feelings are shared among two or more family members but studies showed us that the majority of the emotional burden is handled solely by women. This again has its roots in the cultural perspective on women, their responsibilities, values and what is perceived as natural predispositions that too often are taken for granted. Women have always been seen as more compassionate, caring and vulnerable making it easy for the society to allocate them to various social role such as to care for the ill, elderly or disabled family members. While there is some progress in the way society starts to re-define masculinity and femininity and becomes more open and flexible in terms of diverse qualities both of the genders present, women still account for the vast majority of family caregivers worldwide.