Who Benefits—Or Does not—From South Africa’s Old Age Pension? Evidence from Characteristics of Rural Pensioners and Non-Pensioners

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Margaret Ralston⁴  Enid Schatz¹  Jane Menken³  Francesc Xavier Gómez-Olivé²  Stephen Tollman² 

[1] Department of Health Sciences, University of Missouri, 535 Clark Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, USA;MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2193, South Africa;Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0483, USA;;Department of Sociology, Mississippi State University, P.O. Box C, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA

关键词: Africa;    South Africa;    pension;    socio-economic status;    self-reported disability;    ageing;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph13010085

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Social protection grants play a critical role in survival and livelihoods of elderly individuals in South Africa. Rarely is it possible to assess how well a social program reaches its target population. Using a 2010 survey and Agincourt Health Demographic Surveillance System census data we conduct multivariate logistic regression to predict pension receipt in rural South Africa. We find only 80% of age-eligible individuals report pension receipt. Pension non-recipients tend to be male, have poor socio-economic status, live in smaller households, be of Mozambican origin, and have poorer physical function; while older persons living in households receiving other grants are more likely to report pension receipt. We conclude that a reservoir of older persons exists who meet eligibility criteria but who are not yet receiving pensions. Ensuring that they and their households are properly linked to all available social services—whether for child or old-age social grants—is likely to have beneficial and synergistic effects.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.