But the women and men who survived the full 20 years had very different changes
in their social network on all three dimensions. Women experienced a decrease in
all three types of networks while the male survivors gained in contacts with friends
and family over the 20 years. Men seemed to become more dependent on children,
relatives and close friends for social interaction whereas the women came to depend
more on their children and relatives for financial support as they aged. This reflects
structured gender inequality where rural women born at the turn of the century did
not have the opportunities to work outside the home and to buy into pension plans
independent of their husbands.