This text provides discussion of the female life cycle based on in-depth interviews with 150 diverse women at various stages in their lives, including women from visible minorities, lesbians, women with disabilities, and women living in poverty. In this text, particular attention will be paid to issues of: baby boomers; the women's movement; work and economic security; caregiving; health and well-being; family and intimacy; and structure, culture, and agency. All the chapters underline the need for a new perspective that incorporates the historical and generational shifts in women's lives and their experience of aging.

Preface 1. Midlife Under Siege: Baby Boomers Confront Aging 2. Structure, Culture and Agency in the Study of Midlife Women 3. Midlife Women and the Women's Movement 4. Family and Intimacy: Looking for Connection 5. Caregiving: The Lifelong Compromise 6. Work and Economic Control 7. Health and Well-being 8. Conclusion: Ambivalence and an Ambiguous Future Appendix References Index

Nancy Mandell , Associate Professor, Dept of Sociology, York University, Canada, Susannah Wilson , Professor, Faculty of Community Services, Ryerson University, Canada, Ann Duffy , Professor, Dept of Sociology, Brock University, Canada