Crossing Oceans: A Cross-Cultural Look at Elderly Immigrant Women in the United States and Elderly Women in India

Rams R. Seth/ is a native ofNew Delhi, India. She did her undergradu· ate work at the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley In Political Science and City and Regional Planning and received a Master ofUrban Planning in 1993 from the University ofMichigan, spec/slizing in lntemstlonal Planning and Development. Both the absolute numbers and proportions of elderly persons are rapidly growing throughout the world. Estimates are that the Third World will have 61 percent of the world's 590 million persons age 60 and over by the year 2000. In industrial nations, although social scientists, politicians, and the general public are increas­ ingly aware of the "aging of the population," elderly immigrants are generally not considered a part of this group. Thus the diversity associated with a sizable foreign-born elderly population throws into question general statements regarding "the elderly." .