Old age grant does not cover basic care needs, survey finds

Researchers at the University of Cape Town (UCT) have found that the older persons grant is not sufficient to meet the needs of elderly people in SA.

Prof Elena Moore and other researchers from Family Caregiving, based in the department of sociology at UCT, interviewed 30 families in rural KwaZulu-Natal and 50 families in the Western Cape to find out how pensioner-headed families are making ends meet and whether older people are able to get the care they need.

About 3.9-million people in SA receive the monthly R2,080 old age grant.

Family Caregiving analysed data from Wave 5 of UCT’s National Income Dynamics Study (Nids), which showed that in 2018, most beneficiaries lived in households of three or more people where the average household income was R6,850.

Older people have significant and unique care needs, the researchers argue. According to Stats SA data from 2021, most older people need chronic medication and access to healthcare facilities: 24% of older persons in SA have diabetes, 68% live with hypertension and 14% have arthritis. Older people also often have difficulties with sight, mobility and cognition, meaning they need additional support to go about their day-to-day lives, say the researchers.

In a rural area in KwaZulu-Natal, Family Caregiving found that most households had between eight and nine members and were struggling to cover the cost of food, medical supplies and transport to clinics.

In this area, accessing healthcare is expensive, the team found. A round trip to town by taxi cost R46 and a trip to the closest clinic and back cost R82. Physically disabled older people often had to hire a car for between R200 and R600 to get to a clinic and back. A pack of adult incontinence products cost R219 and lasted only seven days.

Because of the costs of transport and medical supplies, many of these large households were spending an average of only R1,000-R1,500 a month on food, according to the report. A lack of access to water and electricity created an additional burden for older people in rural areas.

In urban areas, such as Cape Town, there is greater access to water and electricity, health facilities are closer, and households are smaller, meaning the older persons grant is not stretched as far. But still, the researchers found, older people were often required to carry households at the expense of their own care.

Low- and low-middle-income families in Khayelitsha and Eerste River told the researchers that the only way to make ends meet was to spend less on food. Many families are stuck in debt cycles, borrowing from loan sharks with extremely high interest rates each month. Unpaid utility bills stack up, and electricity tariff hikes and rising rentals put further pressure on older people.

The monthly cost of nutritious food for a family of seven is R5,324, according to Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity’s household affordability index. Family Caregiving found that low-income households headed by older people were often spending less than half that amount on food because of other household expenses.

This has serious consequences for older people, especially those who need to eat before taking medication.

The report recommended additional investment by the government to care for older people, such as free transport to health facilities and a consistent supply of incontinence products.

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