Investigating the Socio-Economic Impact of the Old Age Pension in the Pensioner Household within Selected Areas of the Eastern Cape

Abstract

Worldwide, ageing diminishes the capacity to work and to earn. In many African Countries, the traditional safety net for the elderly is the extended family, especially children. In South Africa, social safety nets for the African elderly were largely neglected during the apartheid legacy until the newly elected Government of South Africa in 1994 committed itself to redirect resources towards the social sectors and within social spending where racially discriminatory spending had to give way to patterns that better reflected national demographics.