Social protection for the elderly in Zimbabwe: issues, challenges and prospects

Abstract

This article was mainly based on a review of secondary sources of data and assesses the efficacy of existing  social protection measures in averting the syndrome of poverty in old age. This is inspired by the view that the  elderly have an inalienable right to social protection. The paper argues that existing anti-poverty measures,  namely public assistance; the Pension and Other Benefits Scheme and other social welfare programmes are  compromised by low coverage of the elderly among other vulnerable groups and the failure to provide adequate  benefits. The use of the means-test in the implementation of the Older Persons Act (Chapter 17:11) of 2012  restricts the number of beneficiaries. In order to guarantee income and good health in old age, there is need to  transform existing social protection measures in order to increase their coverage and to review the Older  Persons Act so that it provides public assistance universally to the elderly. In addition the government should provide financial support to families caring for elderly relatives and to stimulate and achieve sustainable  economic growth in order to create a basis for funding social protection measures.

KEY TERMS: ageing, elderly, poverty, social protection, public assistance.