Aging and Poverty in Africa and the Role of Social Pensions
In many low income African countries, three factors are placing an undue burden on the elderly: 1) the burden on the elderly has enormously increased with the increase in mortality of prime age adults due to the HIV-AIDS pandemic and regional conflicts; 2) the traditional safety net of the extended family has become ineffective and unreliable for the elderly; and, 3) in a few countries, the elderly are called upon to shoulder the responsibility of the family as they became the principal breadwinners, and caregivers for young children. While a number of studies have examined the welfare consequences of these developments on children, few studies have systematically analyzed the poverty situation among the elderly (relative to other groups) in low income countries in Africa, and the role of social pensions. This study aims to fill this gap. The findings show much heterogeneity across countries with respect to the proportion of the elderly population, the living arrangements, and the composition of households, and household headship. The analysis shows that the poverty situation, and especially the poverty gap ratio, for the household types the "elderly only", the "elderly with children" and the "elderly-headed households" is much higher than the average in several countries, and the differences are statistically significant. The analysis further shows that the fiscal cost of providing a universal non-contributory social pension to all of the elderly will be quite high - 2 percent to 3 percent of GDP, a level comparable to, or even higher, than the levels of total public spending on health care in some countries. While categorical targeting of a pension for the above groups yields the maximum poverty reduction impacts, and is also fiscally sustainable even in low income countries, its operational feasibility is considered to be weak. The study concludes that the case for a universal approach is weak. The best option appears to be to target the pension only to the poor among the elderly, keeping the benefit level low. The study underscores the need for more country-specific work to explore the feasibility of the recommended option in diverse country settings.
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2005-01
|
| Subjects: | AGING, CAREGIVERS, CASH TRANSFERS, COVARIATE SHOCKS, DEVELOPMENT NETWORK, ELDERLY, ELIGIBILITY, HEALTH CARE, HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, INCOME, INCOME COUNTRIES, MEANS TESTS, NATIONAL AVERAGE, NATIONAL LEVEL, POOR, POVERTY GAP, POVERTY REDUCTION, PUBLIC SPENDING, RELATIVE RANKING, RURAL AREAS, SAFETY, SAFETY NET, SAFETY NET PROGRAMS, SAFETY NETS, SOCIAL ASSISTANCE, SOCIAL PROTECTION, SOCIAL SAFETY NETS, TARGETING, |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/01/6240109/aging-poverty-africa-role-social-pensions https://hdl.handle.net/10986/11785 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | In many low income African countries,
three factors are placing an undue burden on the elderly: 1)
the burden on the elderly has enormously increased with the
increase in mortality of prime age adults due to the
HIV-AIDS pandemic and regional conflicts; 2) the traditional
safety net of the extended family has become ineffective and
unreliable for the elderly; and, 3) in a few countries, the
elderly are called upon to shoulder the responsibility of
the family as they became the principal breadwinners, and
caregivers for young children. While a number of studies
have examined the welfare consequences of these developments
on children, few studies have systematically analyzed the
poverty situation among the elderly (relative to other
groups) in low income countries in Africa, and the role of
social pensions. This study aims to fill this gap. The
findings show much heterogeneity across countries with
respect to the proportion of the elderly population, the
living arrangements, and the composition of households, and
household headship. The analysis shows that the poverty
situation, and especially the poverty gap ratio, for the
household types the "elderly only", the
"elderly with children" and the
"elderly-headed households" is much higher than
the average in several countries, and the differences are
statistically significant. The analysis further shows that
the fiscal cost of providing a universal non-contributory
social pension to all of the elderly will be quite high - 2
percent to 3 percent of GDP, a level comparable to, or even
higher, than the levels of total public spending on health
care in some countries. While categorical targeting of a
pension for the above groups yields the maximum poverty
reduction impacts, and is also fiscally sustainable even in
low income countries, its operational feasibility is
considered to be weak. The study concludes that the case for
a universal approach is weak. The best option appears to be
to target the pension only to the poor among the elderly,
keeping the benefit level low. The study underscores the
need for more country-specific work to explore the
feasibility of the recommended option in diverse country settings. |
|---|