the main consequences of the decline in fertility and mortality rates have been slower population growth and the transformation of the age pyramid to reflect an ageing population eclac this ageing process has an inescapable gender dimension not only because women are a majority among older persons but also because they are the primary caregivers for the very elderly and because women are also much more likely to lack economic autonomy in old age then men at present they reproduce and intensify discrimination and inequities originating in other areas the labour market for example without substantially contributing to the closure of gender gaps or to the promotion of distributive justice rico