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Rearranging the Family? Income Support and Elderly Living Arrangements in a Low Income Country

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Author Info
Eric Edmonds
Kristin Mammen
Douglas L. Miller

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Abstract

Despite the importance of living arrangements for well-being and production, the effect of changes in household income on living arrangements is not well understood. This study overcomes the identification problems that have limited the study of the link between income and living arrangements by exploiting a discontinuity in the benefit formula for the social pension in South Africa. In contrast to the findings of the existing literature from wealthier populations, we find no evidence that pension income is used to maintain the independence of black elders in South Africa. Rather, potential beneficiaries alter their household structure. Prime working age women depart, and we observe an increase in children under 5 and young women of child-bearing age. These shifts in co-residence patterns are consistent with a setting where prime age women have comparative advantage in work away from extended family relative to younger women. The additional income from old age support may induce a change in living arrangements to exploit this advantage.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 10306.

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Date of creation: Feb 2004
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10306

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Cally Ardington & Anne Case & Victoria Hosegood, 2007. "Labor Supply Responses to Large Social Transfers: Longitudinal Evidence from South Africa," NBER Working Papers 13442, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Katy Cornwell & Brett Inder & Pushkar Maitra & Anu Rammohan, 2005. "Household Composition and Schooling of Rural South African Children: Sibling Synergy and Migrant Effects," Monash Economics Working Papers 22/05, Monash University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  3. Dora L. Costa, 2008. "The Rise of Retirement Among African Americans: Wealth and Social Security Effects," NBER Working Papers 14462, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. SAFIR Abla, 2008. "Receiving People or Sending Money : Differential Impact of Income Shocks on Migration and Transfers in Senegal," Research Unit Working Papers 0901, Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquee, INRA. [Downloadable!]
  5. Abla Safir, 2008. "Who leaves, who moves in? The impact of positive and negative income shocks on migration in Senegal," PSE Working Papers 2008-76, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure), revised Aug 2009. [Downloadable!]
  6. Anoshua Chaudhuri, 2009. "Spillover Impacts of a Reproductive Health Program on Elderly Women in Rural Bangladesh," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 113-125, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Pushkar Maitra & Ranjan Ray, 2006. "Household expenditure patterns and resource pooling: evidence of changes in post-apartheid South Africa," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 325-347, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Ingrid Ellen & Brendan O’Flaherty, 2007. "Social programs and household size: evidence from New York city," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 387-409, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. David S. Lee & Thomas Lemieux, 2009. "Regression Discontinuity Designs in Economics," NBER Working Papers 14723, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Marcos Rangel, 2005. "Alimony Rights and Intrahousehold Allocation of Resources: Evidence from Brazil," Working Papers 0505, Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago. [Downloadable!]
  11. Akresh, Richard, 2005. "Risk, Network Quality, and Family Structure: Child Fostering Decisions in Burkina Faso," IZA Discussion Papers 1471, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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