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- Author or Editor: Armando Barrientos x
A feature of social policy in developing countries has been the growth of programmes providing direct assistance to households in poverty. Among them, programmes providing transfers to households in extreme poverty conditional on schooling and healthcare utilisation have attracted much attention. The purpose of this article is to provide a concise discussion of the role of conditions in social assistance programmes in developing countries.
The chapter examines the role and significance of social policies in developing countries, and especially social assistance, against the context of the crisis. It argues that although emergency responses to the crisis might be a necessity in certain contexts, they seldom lead to effective and long-lasting institutions to address poverty and vulnerability. The emergence of social assistance programmes in developing countries demonstrates that it is important to focus on programmes which address ‘current’ and ‘future’ poverty through strengthening the economic and social inclusion of households in poverty. Social policy responses to the crisis need to be articulated around existing programmes and with a firm focus on the post-crisis world.
This chapter examines how anti-poverty transfer programmes can drive global extreme poverty to zero. Current trends indicate that global poverty is a crucial issue not only in poor countries but also in low- and middle-income countries. Indeed, the majority of people in extreme poverty today live in middle-income countries and are likely to concentrate in sub-Saharan Africa. In order to reduce extreme poverty worldwide to zero, there is a need to pay special attention to policies facilitating the social and economic inclusion of groups in extreme poverty. The chapter first considers the interrelationships between antipoverty transfers, inclusion of disadvantaged groups, and human development before discussing the outcomes of existing antipoverty transfer programmes. It also highlights the main policy lessons and concludes with an analysis of the role of international aid in anti-poverty transfer programmes.
With social exclusion debates originating in western industrialised nations, there have been few attempts, to date, to extend the exclusion lens to the situation of older people in developing nations. In this chapter, Peter Lloyd-Sherlock, Armando Barrientos and Julia Mase contribute to emerging debates about exclusion in non-western nations by examining older people’s circumstances in the middle-income countries of Brazil and South Africa. Framing their analysis within the context of Cowgill’s (1976) study on development and modernisation and the consequences for older people, the authors use original empirical data to provide a more subtle perspective on such general claims. While access to financial security and pensions provides insights into the material resources domain of social exclusion, older people’s perceptions of inclusion and the quality of their social relationships address its relational dimensions. The chapter emphasises the key contribution of material resources to older people’s social relations and subjective well-being in developing countries.
This chapter discusses the impact of individual ageing on the wellbeing of older people and their households in low-income areas Brazil and South Africa. The research was based on a longitudinal and comparative survey of around 1000 older persons and their households in selected low-income locations in the two countries. A comparison of older people’s wellbeing levels in 2002 and 2008 found improvement over time in a range of wellbeing indicators: per capita household income and expenditure; multidimensional measures; and life satisfaction measures. For low-income households, pension income is essential to their wellbeing, livelihoods, and social inclusion. The research findings suggest that, with appropriate public policies, individual ageing is not necessarily associated with a decline in wellbeing in developing countries.
This chapter presents a comprehensive introduction to the major gerontological topic of participation and social connectivity based on eleven separate NDA projects. Looking at Brazil, India, and South Africa, the chapter begins with a summary of the critical importance of participation to health and well-being in later life. It challenges negative stereotypes of ageing and older people, such as declining participation. It shows that older people do participate and are often tenacious in this but they are often confronted with multiple barriers that prevent them from doing so. The chapter concludes by citing examples on how to improve meaningful participation in later life, which ranges from community arts to literature.
