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Volume 4(1)

 

Budgeting Belonging in the Second Childhood: Gendered Ageing and Digital Inclusion in Kerala

Niranjana M S

Department of Development Studies

Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development

                                                                                            

Population ageing is accelerating globally, with one in six people expected to be aged 60 years and above by 2030. While developed countries currently account for the largest share of older persons, developing regions are witnessing much faster rates of demographic ageing, often without adequate institutional preparedness. Kerala, long celebrated for its human development achievements, once again stands out this time as India’s most rapidly ageing state. With nearly 15 per cent of its population aged 60 and above, compared to the national average of 9.7 per cent, Kerala has entered an advanced stage of demographic transition, driven by sustained fertility decline below replacement level and rising life expectancy (SRS 2023).

An increasingly visible segment within this ageing population is that of nonagenarians and centenarians, signalling not only longevity gains but also rising complexity of care and support needs. More than one-sixth of Kerala’s population is already above 60 years of age, what distinguishes Kerala’s ageing trajectory, however, is not merely its pace but its distinctly gendered nature. Across both rural and urban areas, women constitute a disproportionately large share of the elderly population, clearly indicating the feminisation of ageing. Higher female life expectancy, combined with earlier age at marriage and relatively higher male mortality, has resulted in a large number of older women many of them widowed living alone or with limited family support.

The feminisation of ageing, defined by the trend of women outliving men, is well documented in Kerala’s demographic profile. Yet longevity does not necessarily translate into wellbeing. Old age is often accompanied by senescence, chronic illnesses, functional limitations, and increased dependency. For women, these vulnerabilities are intensified by structural inequalities embedded in patriarchal social arrangements. Lifelong disadvantages such as limited access to education, restricted participation in paid employment, lower asset ownership, and a disproportionate burden of unpaid care work accumulate over the life course and manifest sharply in later life. As a result, older women in Kerala are more likely to experience economic insecurity, social isolation, and unmet health needs.

 

Demographic evidence underscores the centrality of widowhood in women’s ageing experiences.

	Male	Female
Married	87.8	37
Widowed	6.9	59.1
Others(never married/ separated/divorced etc)	5.3	3.9

                         Table 1.1(Source:  Growing old in Kerala, A gendered revisit IIMADS 2025)

Women’s economic dependence is further reinforced by labour patterns: 68.4 per cent of aged women are identified as homemakers, compared to just 2.1 per cent of aged men, reflecting lifelong engagement in unpaid domestic labour. These gendered labour trajectories severely limit financial autonomy in old age. At the same time, technological shifts in labour markets have reduced opportunities for older women to enter or re-enter paid employment, deepening economic vulnerability.

Health-related challenges compound these disadvantages. Older women report higher prevalence of chronic illnesses, functional impairments, and age-related disabilities. Access to geriatric and long-term care remains uneven, and home-based care continues to fall disproportionately on families or on older women themselves when they live alone leads to reduced wellbeing. Despite the presence of social pensions and welfare schemes, many elderly women struggle with inadequate income, rising healthcare costs, and limited financial autonomy. Increasing digitization of welfare delivery has paradoxically introduced new barriers, particularly for those lacking digital access and literacy.

Recognizing these challenges, the WHO declared 2021–2030 as the Decade of Healthy Ageing, defining healthy ageing as the process of developing and maintaining functional ability that enables wellbeing in later life. In an era of rapid technological innovation, achieving healthy ageing without integrating Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is increasingly unrealistic. ICTs can support older adults in managing daily activities, stimulating cognitive function, facilitating social interaction, and mitigating loneliness and isolation. Evidence suggests that person-centered approaches to ageing yield better outcomes than uniform service delivery models an area where digital technologies and artificial intelligence hold significant promise. Studies further indicate that older adults experience lower levels of digital addiction and social comparison, allowing technology to have largely positive cognitive and emotional effects. Innovations such as telemedicine, digital health records, and remote welfare access have already demonstrated substantial potential in improving quality of life.

However, access to these benefits is deeply gendered. Older women face a pronounced digital divide characterised by limited awareness, low confidence, and restricted access to devices, connectivity, and training. Addressing feminised ageing therefore requires deliberate investment to inform, include, and empower women within digital ecosystems.

Participation in a digital literacy initiative for MGNREGA workers offered insights that extended beyond academic literature. One elderly participant, aged 65, reflected on how digital learning reshaped her experience of ageing:

“I learned how to use a mobile phone. Earlier, I would only watch my children and grandchildren use it, wondering how they managed everything so easily. Today, I take photographs, update my status, check others’ updates, send messages, attend video calls, and even track my Janmanrega wages on my own. I feel happy that I have learned this much and I know there is still more to learn.”

This reflection illustrates how digital literacy enables older women to renegotiate ageing, shifting from dependence to autonomy within an increasingly digital welfare state.

Kerala became India’s first fully digitalised state in 2025, yet grassroots digital literacy efforts remain uneven. Successful local initiatives such as the Pullumapara model implemented through NHGs, Kudumbashree networks, and volunteer collectives demonstrate the potential of community based inclusion. Programmes like Sallapam, introduced by the Social Justice Department to foster companionship through intergenerational engagement, reflect innovative responses to ageing. The establishment of the State Commission for the Elderly further signals policy recognition of demographic change. Yet these interventions rarely address the specific digital and economic vulnerabilities of older women.

From a budgetary perspective, this gap does not necessarily demand new or high cost schemes. Rather, digital literacy for elderly women can be embedded as a targeted sub-component within existing allocations under Kudumbashree, MGNREGA capacity building, and Social Justice programmes, using local institutions such as libraries, Akshaya centres, and community halls as training hubs. Even marginal reallocation within existing training and gender budget heads can yield substantial returns by reducing dependency, improving welfare access, and enhancing wellbeing. Crucially, gender budgeting frameworks must move beyond household level indicators of digital literacy, which obscure women’s exclusion, and instead adopt age and gender disaggregated tracking to ensure effective inclusion.

Addressing the feminisation of ageing in Kerala therefore requires a deliberate convergence of gender, ageing, and digital inclusion policies. This includes gender responsive digital literacy for older women using age friendly pedagogies, systematic integration of ICT into geriatric healthcare and welfare delivery, and strengthening community and intergenerational models that combine skill building with social engagement. Most critically, ageing policies must adopt a life course and gender lens, recognising that digital exclusion in old age reflects cumulative inequalities across women’s lives. The challenge ahead lies not in technological availability alone, but in ensuring that digital transformation becomes a tool for dignified, gender-just ageing allowing Kerala’s older women not only to live longer, but to live better.

 

REFERENCES

1.      Rajan, S. I., Sunitha, S., Irshad, C. V., & Paul, S. (2025). Growing old in Kerala: A gendered revisit.

2.      García, B. R., Palacio, M. I., Lucas-Ochoa, A. M., González-Cuello, A. M., Fernández-Villalba, E., & Herrero, M. T. (2024). Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs): Opportunity in the Feminisation of Ageing.