Growing Cost of Family Care of Older Persons in Namibia: Droughts, Disabling Environments and Interdependence

Living arrangements for older persons in Namibia are essential for understanding the cost of care. Older person households are large but very few family members receive social grants, including children. Moreover, four out of five older persons in Namibia are living in a rural area and disabling environments in rural areas increase the cost of care, as older persons have to use more resources in accessing the limited services available. By drawing on semi-structured interviews with 80 caregivers and older persons, the paper reveals how older person households distribute resources within the household as a way of sustaining themselves, their family members and their communities. In the absence of better social protection measures or (especially for children), direct care provision, female family caregivers of older persons are often challenged in meeting the needs of older persons and children.