Power of partnership conference: Poster: Impact of social pensions on multiple dimensions of poverty, subjective wellbeing and solidarity across generations

1. Aim:
Investigate characteristics associated with receipt of
Kenya's Older Persons Cash Transfer Programme and
assess effectiveness in reaching the most vulnerable
older people.
Introduction:
•24 month project that focuses the drivers of
household, individual and intergenerational impacts of
social pensions on older beneficiaries and their
families in an urban poor setting;
•Joint project between the Centre for Research on
Ageing, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of
Southampton (UK) and the African Population and
Health Research Centre (Kenya).
Impact of social pensions on multiple dimensions of poverty,
subjective wellbeing and solidarity across generations
Gloria C. Langat (PI); Nele Van Der Wielen; Maria Evandrou; Jane
Falkingham, Isabella Aboderin
This research is supported in part by the Economic and Social Research Council
(ESRC) and the Department for International Development (DFID)
(ES/N014510/1).
Stakeholders:
•The Kenya Ministry of Labour, Social Security and
Services (MLSSS)
•The African Union Department of Social Affairs (AU
DSA)
•The Africa Platform for Social Protection (APSP)
Objectives:
The purpose of the proposed research is to address
the knowledge gaps in Kenya's Older Persons Cash
Transfer Programme (OPCTP):
1.Determine the scope and patterns of older beneficiaries'
sharing of their OPCTP funds with members of their kin
networks;
2.Elucidate the rationales, interests, normative perspectives,
external factors and actors that determine older beneficiaries‘
use and (not) sharing of OPCTP funds with kin;
3.Establish the nature and the size of impacts of OPCTP funds
on multiple dimensions of household- and individual-level
poverty;
4.Illuminate the ways in which the sharing of OPCTP funds by
older beneficiaries shapes intergenerational dependencies and
relations;
5.Explore the extent to, and ways in, which aspects of the
scheme's on-the-ground operation shape the use, sharing and
impacts of OPCTP funds;
6.Examine the presence of gender differentials;
7.Investigate broader community experiences and implications
of the OPCTP and its on-the-ground operation.
Results:
•Successful targeting: results indicate that the
targeting method of selecting beneficiaries for the
OPCTP seems to deliver beneficiaries based on
money metric measures in line with the officially
prescribed guidelines
•Improved wellbeing: the programme helped to
improved beneficiaries’ perception of having
enough money to meet basic needs
•Multiple beneficiaries: the benefit of OPCTP
extends well beyond the primary recipient. Older
people play a key role in supporting younger
generations.
Impact: The project brings on board national and regional-level bodies.
•National-level policy impacts: evidence based insights on role of-, and approaches to harnessing the OPCTP as
a vehicle for poverty alleviation across age-groups presented to the Department of Social Development at the
Ministry of Labour (Kenya);
•Regional-level impacts: collaborative partnership with the Department of Social Affairs of the African Union and
the Africa Platform for Social Protection.
The study setting and method:
Nairobi, Kenya (two informal settlements)
Mixed methods design: (i) quantitative secondary
analysis of data from the Nairobi Urban Demographic
Surveillance System and (ii) an interpretive qualitative
investigation among older OPCTP beneficiaries,
younger-generation members of their kin networks,
and relevant community informants and
representatives.
Source: National Social Protection Secretariat 2018