In a country where the lower middle-income stratum is broad, there is a vast population of elderly family members who are expelled from their families. This trend of lately has been on the rise with the disintegration of the joint family system and the increase in modern nuclear families where each member in an ideal situation works and earns. In a society that is impoverished and still developing, the elderly are treated as disposable in families that are struggling economically and try to reduce the expenses of any family member who is not adding up to the family income. The abandoning of parents is higher among very low or low-income generating families.

This problem aggravates women who are given an inferior or subordinated position in India and have remained dependent lifelong on a father or a husband. Although the last decade has witnessed improvement in the image of women who are mostly marginalized in a patriarchal society, elderly women still remain the most neglected lot. They are the ones who are taken for granted for being self-sacrificing and responsible throughout their lives. They are often regarded to be the epitome of devotion, often presumed to have no need for care or service.