Old age pension and poverty of elderly persons in Cameroon

• In Event: 2320 - Section on Disability in Society Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 3 Section on Disability in Society Refereed Roundtables

Abstract

Elderly persons in Cameroon make up 5.5% of the total population estimated at about 21.6 million inhabitants in 2014.Faced with the demographic ageing, problems related to social protection and notably to retirement schemes make up core issues. In 2011, 12.5% of the population aged and above received an old age pension (ILO, 2014).Retirement schemes in Cameroon are characterized by a week coverage as well as a week level of pension, constituting an element that can explain the poverty of elderly persons. In other words, what is the impact of explanatory factors upon the link between the poverty of elderly persons and old age pensions? In order to answer this question, we mobilise the data from the Cameroonian survey of households (ECAM); we also conduct an analysis at bivaried and multivariate levels. Those analyses reveal that the crucial variables in the explanation of the poverty of retired persons are the area of residence, the activity sector and sicknesses. First and foremost, we will present the theoretical framework of the study, and with it’s methodological aspects. then, we shall examine the various residential, economic and demographic characteristics can the explanatory factors of the poverty of elderly pensioners.

Author

• Marcel Nkoma, Minepat