GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE CARE, SUPPORT AND EXPRESSED SATISFACTION AMONG OLDER PERSONS IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

As the world begin to experienced increases in the number of older persons worldwide, it is also evidently cleared that, startling transformations have occurred all over the world, particularly on the mode of caring and supporting of older persons.This transformation affects different people in different ways, depending on sex, location, size of cohort, economic resources (individual, familial and national), norms inherited from the past and individual.s live experiences and personality with its attendant consequences for economic security, especially in most societies of the world where pensions are paid only to a small proportion of older persons who had worked in the former sectors of the economy. Even in countries where pensions are more generally available, the burden of an ageing population is increasingly being regarded as unsustainable. Hence, older persons would have to depend on the combinations of informal supports for their survival. This study is therefore set out to examine gender differences in the care, support, overall wellbeing and level of satisfaction among older persons in Lagos State, Nigeria. Triangulation method was used for data collection. A multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted to select 1,200 respondents. Logistic regression technique was used to test the hypotheses. The study found that gender of an individual and personality is an important determinant of care and support received by older persons in Lagos State. The study concludes that adequate care and support by older persons in the society would engendered improved wellbeing in later life