The living arrangements of older adults in sub-Saharan Africa in a time of HIV/AIDS
Results show that older adults in sub-Saharan Africa live in a variety of household arrangements. The study finds that older adults in the region are fairly likely to live in either nuclear or extended household arrangements. Men are more likely to be living in the nuclear arrangements, and women in extended households. It is suspected that women are more likely to be dependent on family support and to assume important household tasks, including child care.
At a time when it is more normal for adult children to look after their ageing parents, many older persons find themselves with the unexpected responsibility of caring for frail children or with the task of becoming sole parents to grandchildren due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The study suggests a total of 61 percent of older adults in sub-Saharan Africa live with a child and 43 percent live with a grandchild. The study also finds that older adults frequently live with grandchildren one or both of whose parents are absent. Some 13 percent of older adults in sub-Saharan Africa live with at least one grandchild but with none of their own adult children also in the household. This tendency occurs with greater regularity in countries with high AIDS-related mortality.
However, research implies a fostering arrangement that would exist with or without the AIDS epidemic, as a majority of the absent parents are alive but live elsewhere. This is a more common situation in rural areas, perhaps indicating that the parent has left to find work elsewhere.
The study results suggest a complex set of associations between fostering as normative behavior within sub-Saharan African culture, rates of HIV/AIDS, and living arrangement patterns.
Further study is required to more accurately assess how changes in AIDS-related mortality are associated with changes in living arrangements.. Other circumstances, such as living in poverty and the migration of adult children from rural to urban areas, may affect the well-being and living arrangements of the older population to an even greater degree. At the same time, Africa’s limited resources and the many competing needs of older adults necessitate the identification of those most critical for their survival and welfare. Awareness of the types of households in which older people live is a first step to understanding these needs.
