Aging While Female

An illuminating exploration of how the law shapes the experience of aging-and why it matters most for women.

What does it mean to grow older as a woman in the United States? Why does the answer differ so sharply for men? And what does the law have to do with it?

Aging While Female exposes the powerful ways the law influences women's lives as they age, affecting everything from longevity and health to financial security and where, how, and with whom they spend their final years. Just as compellingly, it exposes how the law contributes to a vast gap between the experiences of older women and older men, leaving women poorer, more burdened with care duties, and with narrower life choices.

In Aging While Female, Naomi Cahn and Nina A. Kohn reveal a striking paradox: American law protects older women from gender inequality while simultaneously creating and reinforcing it. To uncover this hidden dynamic, Cahn and Kohn explore seven key roles older women play in American society and examine the legal structures tied to each. Weaving together rigorous research with vivid first-person narratives, they show that gender differences in aging are not simply "the way things are" or the result of personal choices, they are shaped by incentives and structures embedded in our laws.

Cahn and Kohn argue that these outcomes are not inevitable. They offer concrete, actionable reforms to ensure that aging-especially aging while female-can be a more just, equitable, and fulfilling experience for all Americans.