In both academic and practitioner work on women's work, there is significant focus on women in the 18-55 age bracket. However, there remains a gap in the policy agenda on the impact of COVID-19 on ...older women in the 55+ age group, including those with disabilities. Christian Aid research and projects that have focused on Myanmar, Bangladesh, Ghana, and Nigeria provide anecdotal evidence with regards to this. This paper addresses what the authors argue to be a distinct gap in programmatic work regarding the economic and social labour of women over the age of 55. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, anecdotal evidence arose that noted how women of that age bracket were holding the significant role of breadwinner, as well as main caregiver, for their families. However, on further investigation, we noted that this is an issue that has, so far, received little attention in policy and programmatic work in the international development sector, and that data surrounding the issue are often very limited, and usually found in anecdotal formats. Noting gaps within the work of our own organisation, we reflect on how such a lacuna in policy and programmatic work limits the 'liberating' aspect of women's economic empowerment. Using this reflection, and drawing from anecdotal evidence, as well as discussions with individuals working with older women, we suggest strategies towards recognising and rewarding such workers, and with this to add to literature arguing for a more diverse implementation of the women's economic empowerment agenda.
The article is devoted to the analysis of the causes and factors of poverty of Russian pensioners in the context of the strategic task of the current stage of the pension reform in the Russian ...Federation to overcome global risks and increase the efficiency of state pension provision based on accelerating the socioeconomic development of the country. The methodology of using the “replacement rate” indicator, generally recognized in international theory and practice as an integral criterion for the level of development of the pension system, as well as other criteria and indicators characterizing its effectiveness, has been substantiated.
•International Retirement Migration demonstrates new social and spatial patterns.•Lower-cost countries and pension-poor Westerners are emerging.•Italian pensioners relocate to Bulgaria mainly to ...overcome financial difficulties.•Relocation reaffirms intergenerational practices e.g. sustaining economically children.•Partial social integration restricts the stay in Bulgaria during fourth age.
The geography of international retirement migration is constantly changing with the rise of new countries of origin and destination. The latter are often peripheral, lower-cost countries at various latitudes of the world. New actors are also emerging, like pension-poor Westerners with economic constraints who seek suitable locations to enhance their standard of living. This paper is set within this context and studies the recent emigration of Italian pensioners to Bulgaria. By using narratives from interviews carried out with 25 retirees who have recently relocated to this country, the paper addresses two questions. The first relates to the main reason for relocation, while the second concerns the balance of their life in Bulgaria. Study results highlight that the main motivation for the relocation was the financial constraint they were living under in Italy. However, for some of them, in addition to this, another motivator related to the emotional, personal problems they were facing. A novel aspect of this study relates to the outcomes illustrating that, beyond the improvement of their standard of living, for most of the participants the relocation provided a way to reacquire intergenerational practices with regard to family duties (e.g. to economically sustain children left in Italy). While the overall balance of their life in Bulgaria is positive, the partial social integration due to the strong language barrier renders their stay in this country improbable, as they approach the fourth age.
Mortality at older ages varies by season, increasing the uncertainty associated with modelling and projecting mortality at older ages and ultimately contributing to pension providers’ overall risk. ...As the population ages, it becomes more important to understand variations in seasonal mortality between pensioners and to identify those most vulnerable to seasonal mortality differences. Using data from the Self-Administered Pension Schemes mortality investigation of the Continuous Mortality Investigation of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, UK, this paper investigates variations in seasonal mortality amongst members of UK occupational pension schemes over the period 2000–2016. Results are also compared with the corresponding population of England and Wales. For the oldest age groups (80+), which are most affected by seasonality, females are more vulnerable to seasonal differences in mortality for each pensioner group relative to males. Following a long-term decline in the winter-summer mortality gap the gap increased over the period, particularly for female pensioners and dependants. Seasonality remains a feature of UK mortality at older ages and risk management for pension schemes should consider seasonality when analysing overall mortality experience.
•First estimates on the labor supply response to income shocks among retirees.•We can rule out response elasticities larger than 0.051.•Result extends to retirees with little savings and few ...demand-side obstacles.•Also show that the negative income shock had no impact on the health of pensioners.
This paper provides the first evidence on the labor supply response to negative income shocks among full-time retirees, exploiting an institutional feature that caused differential and unexpected income losses among otherwise identical individuals in a sharp regression discontinuity design. We conclude that full-time retirees do not return to work despite losing a meaningful share of their annual income. Specifically, we can rule out response elasticities larger than 0.051. This precisely estimated null effect also extends to retirees who have limited savings, who face little demand-side obstacles to reentering the labor force, and to younger individuals who just recently entered retirement. The paper further shows that the negative income shock had no impact on the health of pensioners as measured by their utilization of the health care system. The lack of an employment and health care utilization response suggests that a reduction in benefit levels may have little impact on individuals in our context. At the height of an ongoing global crisis in which public pension funds are rapidly losing value, these results are particularly important.
•The paper reveals how the success of a TOD project is dependent on second homes.•The concept “part-time amenity migrants” captures the behaviour of interviewed TOD residents.•The paper argues that ...TOD strategies needs to acknowledge landscape amenities and leisure travel.•The study is based on qualitative interviews with young retirees in a TOD.
Transit-oriented development (TOD) has been proposed as a model for sustainable urban and regional development beyond the troubled heritage of modernistic planning. Key to TOD is mixed use and reduced dependence on private cars. However, functionalistic land-use divides persist in the principles of TOD, such as the division between leisure and work and between permanent residences and second homes. These divides relate to, and are emphasised by, a strong focus on urban qualities within the TOD discourse, while discussions on landscape amenities are set aside. Following recent research on compensation theory and amenity migration, this study argues that densification of TODs could increase residents’ dependency on second homes in the countryside. The study provides insights gained from semi-structured interviews with senior residents in newly-built apartments and houses in a TOD location in Sweden. The interviews revealed how the importance of multiple dwellings is enhanced by the densification project and how car dependency is built into the model. The term ‘part-time amenity migrant’ has been coined to describe this phenomenon and increase awareness of landscape amenities in TOD locations.
Ghana’s elderly population represents about 6.7% of the national populace. They comprise persons aged sixty years and above, including retirees. The main source of income for some of these ...individuals, particularly those who worked in the formal sector is the monthly pension they receive as compensation for contributing to Ghana’s public pension scheme known as the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) while they were working. However, some beneficiaries of the scheme have raised concerns about the inadequacy of the pension income. Old age is accompanied by other social, economic, and health issues that tend to be detrimental to one’s well-being. In this study, the survival strategies adopted by SSNIT pensioners to assuage the challenges they encounter, mainly due to inadequate pensions were explored. The mixed-methods research design was employed to gather data from 437 respondents. Whereas the quantitative findings were analyzed via the Stata software, the framework approach was adopted to analyze the qualitative data. The majority (78.7%) of the pensioners indicated that their pensions were insufficient to meet their needs. In their quest to address the challenges confronting them, the pensioners either adopted survival strategies they considered suitable or resorted to other non-prioritized coping mechanisms perceived to be relevant only in times of urgent necessity. Based on the findings of the study, some recommendations for policy and practice were presented.
Aim
Population aging is increasing in low‐income countries. Despite this, there is distinct lack of knowledge about the prevalence of comorbidities and determinants of frailty among older people in ...these countries.
Methods
We examined data from “Health and Social Care Needs Assessment Survey of the Gurkha Welfare Pensioners” carried out in 2014. Participants were aged ≥60 years from the Gorakha, Lamjung and Tanahu districts of Nepal. Face‐to‐face interviews were carried out using validated questionnaires. Demographic data, socioeconomic status, and self‐reported symptoms and illnesses were collected. Frailty was assessed using the Canadian Study of Health and Aging scale. Univariable and multivariable regression models were constructed to identify the determinants of frailty defined as Canadian Study of Health and Aging scale ≥4.
Results
A total of 253 participants (32.0% men) were included in the present study. Most (82.2%) participants were from the Janajati ethnic background. Men who were ex‐servicemen had higher educational attainment than women, most of whom (95.3%) were widows of ex‐servicemen (P < 0.01). A total of 48.5% of women lived with their sons, whereas 43% of the male participants lived with their wives. Women reported a higher prevalence of mental health issues, such as anxiety and insomnia, compared with men. The prevalence of frailty was 46.2% (46.3% in men and 46.1% in women). In this population, frailty was significantly associated with older age, smoking, living with son, breathing problems, unspecified pain and fatigue, poor dental health, and history of falls and fracture (P < 0.001 for all) after controlling for potential confounders.
Conclusions
The present study highlights the growing nature of the comorbidity burden, and frailty and its determinants in a low‐income setting. Concerted efforts should be made with regard to how best to tackle this globally. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 2493–2499.
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