The Problems Faced by Homeless Older Adults in Nigeria: Implications for the Future Care of the Elderly

Abstract

In the absence of a universal old age social security, the norm in Nigeria is for younger relatives to care for their aged parents and other older relatives. This was quite feasible in the agrarian economy, which is now being replaced by organized economy which is characterized by migration in search for jobs. This condition is further worsened by poverty among the youth. Some older citizens are rendered homeless in the present economic dispensation. They live on the streets and other public places and beg for sustenance. This paper brings to limelight the plights of the homeless older citizens in terms of their lives on the streets. The homeless older citizens are often grouped with able-bodied younger vagrants, arrested and confined in near total institutional settings when government wishes to rid the streets of vagrants. It is recommended that the National Population Commission, through its five yearly Demographic and Health Survey exercises should obtain reliable information on the number and locations of homeless older citizens and those who are likely to be homeless in the near future with the view to providing them with shelter and a universal welfare package.

'No Matter How Harsh, We Are Alive': Coping Strategies of Rural–Urban Migrant Homeless Older People in Ethiopia

“…Yet, in the absence of public income support for older adults and in light of persistent age discrimination, a significant portion of older adults who migrate to urban areas end up homeless (HelpAge International, 2013 ). Although a few studies have examined the plight of homeless older adults in other Sub‐Saharan nations such as Nigeria (Geyer, 2021 ) and South Africa (Hellandendu, 2014 ), the struggles of homeless older adults in Ethiopia have received little attention. Likewise, while there has been some attention to the push factors contributing to the growing problem of homelessness in the continent (Makiwane et al, 2010 ; Speak, 2020 ), less attention has been given to older adults' responses to homelessness.…”