This week, in this chapter, our authors Susan Braedley, Karine Côté-Boucher, and Renate Ysseldyk draw on three empirical studies with older immigrant women in Ottawa, Canada, to explore how care shapes their lives both in what they provide and what they need.
They begin by asking an important question: How are arrangements of paid and unpaid care implicated in creating age inequities? And can age equity policies and practices expand possibilities in ways that meaningfully consider immigration status, ethnicity, language, gender, and culture?
The key tension, older immigrant women are deeply engaged in caregiving, contributing significantly to care systems most often through unpaid labour within families and communities. At the same time, they are navigating layered barriers that shape their access to care and support. While much of the existing research focuses on immigrant workers in paid care roles, this chapter brings forward another critical dimension of the immigrant–care relationship: the scale and impact of unpaid care provided by older immigrant women, and how this contributes to age inequities, even in high-income countries like Canada.
Our authors conclude by emphasizing the need for age equity approaches that recognize both the contributions and the needs of older adults, while accounting for the intersecting factors that shape their experiences.
To read the full chapter and the rest of our book find it here on the Bristol University Press Digital webpage
Imagine Aging 
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