The origins and influence of social science perspectives have conditioned theoretical and empirical developments in the field of gerontology. Yet little systematic examination has been afforded to the role of social science in the production of gerontological knowledge in providing the underlying rationale for American social policy for the aged. This paper examines the dominant U.S. social science perspectives or paradigms and discusses the reasons for their centrality in American gerontological thought. The paper concludes with a proposal for an alternative line of inquiry — a political economy of ageing — which takes as problematic the effects of social history, the world economy, capitalism and social class on the ageing process and the aged and the policy interventions designed for them.

Economic and policy arrangements assure the maintenance of gender-based inequities throughout the life cycle. To understand the economics of aging requires consideration of the problems of women of all ages, commencing early in the adult life cycle when the different social roles and opportunity structures available to men and women take effect. Because the economic inequities suffered by women in old age derive principally from inequities suffered earlier as wives and workers, public policy focused on redressing income in old age does nothing to alter the structural basis of inequity. This article examines factors underlying the economics of aging for older women in the United States; delineates the relation between women's roles, social policy, and income; and raises salient policy questions for younger and older women.

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