Viewed from a conflict perspective, it is not surprising that older women experience a double burden; the same is true of elderly members of racial and ethnic minorities. For example, in 1997 the proportion of older Hispanics with incomes below the poverty line (23.8 percent) was more than twice as large as the proportion of older Whites (9.0 percent). Moreover, 26 percent of older African Americans were below the federal government’s poverty line (Dalaker and Naifeh 1998:3-5).