This is the first major sociological report on the lives, status and public policy needs of the Chicana elderly, a population which is generally poor and has been stereotyped as widows and grandmothers. Elisa Facio offers insight into how Chicana elderly cope with their economic and cultural marginality, and how they gain the personal and financial resources they require. The book relates how scholars and public policy makers have previously understood the world of Chicana elderly, and provides new data on the social meaning of Chicana old age, specifying implications of that meaning for future policy makers.