Paper short abstract:

En Afrique la cohabitation intergénérationnelle est presqu’une norme. La question à laquelle nous tenterons de répondre est de savoir si le fait de vivre sous un même toit avec son parent âgé tient davantage d’un choix délibéré, assumé ou stratégique ?

Paper long abstract:

En Afrique, la famille reste pilier fondamental de la prise en charge des personnes âgées. Les soins apportés aux parents âgés se traduisent non seulement par une cohabitation résidentielle, mais également par une assistance multiforme au quotidien, ou par un soutien à distance. Or, en raison des difficultés économiques et des mutations sociales, l'on assiste aujourd'hui en effritement des solidarités familiales. Dans ce contexte, la question est donc de savoir si le fait de vivre sous un même toit avec son parent vieillissant tient davantage d'un choix délibéré, assumé ou stratégique ? En plus de ressortir les arrangements et pratiques domestiques qui se font dans le cadre de la cohabitation avec un parent âgé, cette communication explore les logiques sous-jacentes à cette cohabitation intergénérationnelle. Ces différents aspects sont analysés à partir des données du Recensement Général de la Population de 2005, complétées par des entretiens auprès d'une dizaine de proches parents de personnes âgées. Les résultats de cette étude montrent que la cohabitation avec son parent âgé met en évidence, des relations d'échanges, d'affectivité, de pouvoir et de conflits intergénérationnels. Cette cohabitation relève non seulement de logiques d'obligation filiale, mais aussi de construction identitaire. Elle cache toutefois en filigrane, des mobiles de calcul économique et des jeux de positionnement stratégique des acteurs familiaux en quête d'un statut social valorisant.

Mots clés : cohabitation intergénérationnelle - prise en charge - famille- personnes âgées

Paper short abstract:

Ageing is a rising trend in Egypt, with changes in both age group composition and living arrangements of the elderly. Old people are vulnerable to poverty, and intergenerational transfers within the family assume a main role.

Paper long abstract:

Ageing is a rising trend in Egypt, with recent changes in living arrangements of the elderly and in cross-generational ties.

Old people are vulnerable to poverty, and their living conditions are highly variable within the country. According to Egyptian laws, there is a monthly pension for all Egyptian employees, but few individuals are entitled to these pensions, in particular among women. Other (minute) benefits to the poor deprived families come from the Ministry of Social Affairs (MSA) and from religious bodies and Nongovernmental Organizations. Social protection is weak, and families remain the main source of support in old age.

Our aim is to evaluate the spread of vulnerability among old Egyptian people and the role of various types of support flows within families.

We utilize individual data from Egypt Labor Market Survey 1998 and 2006, that inform about personal characteristics of all household members, housing assets and conditions, non work-related sources of income, monetary flows from relatives.

To assess the situations of older people and the way families support their needs, we consider:

- characteristics and trends of elderly living arrangements, with attention on intergenerational co-residence;

-monetary flows to the families including elderly people both from institutional mechanisms (monthly pensions, payments from MSA or from other associations) and from intergenerational transfers within families, including remittances from family members who emigrated.

First results suggest a good deal of reciprocity in exchanges within families, and some exchanges - especially financial ones - frequently involve family members who live elsewhere.

Paper short abstract:

Considering the low levels of pension and the healthcare coverage for many older Moroccan people, intergenerational relationships are quite essential to provide support to the elderly. But very often families have to face difficulties, in particular to provide them access to adapted health care.

Paper long abstract:

In Morocco, 16% of the over-60s receive a retirement pension. There are strong gender inequalities: only 3% of women in this age group are pension recipients, compared with 30% of men. Disparities between urban and rural areas are also very large. Concerning healthcare coverage, only 13% of over-60s are covered, with large disparities by gender (8% of older women versus 18% of older men) and by place of residence (22% in urban areas and 3% in rural areas). Families provide support to the elderly thanks to the polymorphism of intergenerational relationships and to an organization based on sharing caregiving and financial responsibilities. Such an organization is conceivable because family size is large on average. Nevertheless, families often face difficulties to provide adapted support to the elderly, especially when older parent become dependent. Considering expected demographic change, it's really important to develop public policy measures able to balance and support family bonds.

This paper is founded on the analysis of data at a national level and on the analysis of data collected through investigations led among Moroccan older people living in the city of Meknes.

Paper short abstract:

This paper is based on qualitative interviews and aims at assessing inequalities between older persons in Uganda, with a special interest in the systems of solidarity they are embedded in.

Paper long abstract:

At a time when Uganda is setting up a universal system of social assistance grants targeting the most vulnerable people (persons above 65, persons with disabilities, persons taking in orphans, etc.), a large proportion of older people live in economically difficult conditions. Most Ugandan families have lost young members in relation to the HIV-AIDS epidemic and the civil war that have disrupted the country since the 1970s, and it is not unusual for older adults to find themselves with no younger descendants in a position to support them. This paper is based on a series of qualitative interviews conducted in 7 different settings in Uganda, with both older adults and with younger ones, between August 2008 and April 2012. Both men and women, of different socio-economic backgrounds, living in different settings (rural, small town, capital city, poor / less poor neighbourhoods) were interviewed. The objective of the paper is to approach the reality of older people's lives, in terms of support and care. This leads us to a reflection on key elements structuring inequalities between older persons in Uganda, between poverty, health conditions and the strength of individual support systems.

Paper short abstract:

The principle of intergenerational indebtedness undermines the authority of elderly parents, placing them in a position of dependence on their children and exposing them to financial, health and social vulnerability.

Paper long abstract:

The first part of this paper examines the living conditions of old people in terms of their position as heads of households. The oldest member of the household is usually described as the head, without taking account of his or her economic status or authority within the household. But the elderly experience a drop in their incomes. They are supplanted as the principal contributors to the household economy by their juniors, who begin to take decisions for them. This is particularly true for elderly women. The second part of the paper starts from observed differences between the positions of men and of women in the household, and aims to show that elderly women are more vulnerable than men in terms of their access to medical care. They tend to be older, and their households have lower incomes, receive lower levels of remittances and have fewer helpers than those of men .

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