Gender, ageing and carework in East and Southern Africa: A review

Abstract

An estimated 58 million persons aged 60-plus live in sub-Saharan Africa; by 2050 that number will rise sharply to 215 million. Older Africans traditionally get care in their old age from the middle generation. But in East and Southern Africa, HIV has hollowed out that generation, leaving many older persons to provide care for their children’s children without someone to care for him or herself in old age. Simultaneously, the burden of disease among older persons is changing in this region. The result is a growing care deficit. This article examines the existing literature on care for and by older persons in this region, highlighting understudied aspects of older persons’ experiences of ageing and care – including the positive impacts of carework, variation in the region, and the role of resilience and pensions. We advance a conceptual framework of gendered identities – for both men and women – and intergenerational social exchange to help focus and understand the complex interdependent relationships around carework, which are paramount in addressing the needs of older persons in the current care deficit in this region, and the Global South more generally.

Generational dynamics of agricultural intensification in Malawi: challenges for the youth and elderly smallholder farmers

“…To compensate for insufficient social welfare in many African contexts, the extended family serves as a social and economic safety net for the elderly, unemployed as well as other less fortunate individuals (Andersson, 2011;Schatz & Seeley, 2015). In SSA the various household compositions may be complex and could include three generations and more than one family (Zimmer & Das, 2014).…”

Intergenerational care for and by children: Examining reciprocity through focus group interviews with older adults in rural Uganda

“…It is also a reminder about the critical gaps in support for older people, which force older persons to continue working even when their physical energy is waning. Particularly in settings that have been strongly impacted by HIV, the solidarity and reciprocity between older persons and children may be crucial to fill the gap left by a missing middle generation (Kuo and Operario 2009;Rutakumwa et al 2015;Schatz and Seeley 2015;Seeley et al 2009;Zimmer 2009). …”

“…Children's wellbeing in such contexts thus depends on both immediate family resources and capabilities and extended kin networks. Grandmothers and aunts, in particular, but also grandfathers and uncles, often contribute extensively to children's many needs (Akintola 2004(Akintola , 2008Schatz and Seeley 2015). At the same time young people, perhaps particularly girls, contribute to their households and provide care to older persons (Evans 2010).…”

Kenya’s Life Lessons through the Lived Experience of Rural Caregivers

“…In recent years, a shift has occurred from studies examining needs in the urban areas to the needs of rural communities. This shift is in part due to the unique challenges facing rural areas such as migration of males to the urban areas in search of gainful employment, transportation access issues, unequal medical and mental health care, and food insecurity (Ginsberg 2011;Harrison et al 2014;Schatz and Seeley 2015). While the previous list is not exhaustive, it does provide the reader a basic overview of the added pressure in rural areas throughout the world.…”

“…In Kenya, a country in Sub-Saharan Africa, additional struggles are noted to include tribal strife, lack of access to clean water, reduced access to education, and the increasing number of deaths due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic (Govender et al 2012;Oramasionwu et al 2011; World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa (2017)). Notably, HIV related deaths of parents have deprived many households of able-bodied members while leaving behind young orphans, cared for by older siblings, or cared for by other available family (Harrison et al 2014;Heymann and Kidman 2009;Lee et al 2014;Schatz and Seeley 2015). In recent years, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa (2017) noted drought, food insecurity, cholera, measles, leishmaniosis, and dengue fever as causing increasing numbers of deaths throughout the country of Kenya, thus adding pressure with the continued AIDS/HIV Pandemic.…”