Alicia Menendez

Does money empower the elderly? Evidence from the Agincourt demographic surveillance site, South Africa

Aims: To quantify the impact of the South African old age (social) pension on outcomes for pensioners and the prime-aged adults and children who live with them, and to examine alternative means by which pensions affect household outcomes. Methods: We collected socioeconomic data on 290 households in the Agincourt demographic surveillance area (DSA), stratifying our sample on the presence of a household member age-eligible for the old-age pension (women aged 60 and older, men aged 65 and older). Results: The presence of a pensioner significantly reduces household reports that adults and, separately, children missed meals because there was not enough money for food. In addition, girls are significantly more likely to be enrolled in school if they are living with a pensioner, an effect that is driven entirely by living with a female pensioner. Our results are consistent with a model in which pensioners have a greater say in household functioning once they begin to receive their pensions. Conclusions: We find a program targeted toward the elderly plays a significant role in childrens health and development.

Fertility Changes in Latin America in the Context of Economic Uncertainty

We explored the relation between fertility and the business cycle in Latin America. First, we used aggregate data on fertility rates and economic performance for 18 countries. We then studied these same associations in the transitions to first, second, and third births with DHS individual data for ten countries. The results show that in general, childbearing declined during economic downturns. The decline was mainly associated with increasing unemployment rather than slowdowns in the growth of gross domestic product, although there was a positive relationship between first-birth rates and growth. While periods of unemployment may be a good time to have children because opportunity costs are lower, in fact childbearing was reduced or postponed, especially among the most recent cohorts and among urban and more educated women. The finding is consistent with the contention that, during this particular period in Latin America, income effects were dominant.

Public university in Argentina: subsidizing the rich?

We analyze some characteristics of the higher education system in Argentina regarding equity and efficiency. Individuals attending the university belong to the top deciles of the income distribution and to relatively highly educated families. Almost 90 percent of the students in tuition-free public universities have higher than median per capita family income and almost 50 percent attended tuition-financed private high schools. We compare these students with those who attend non tuition-free private colleges. Although students in private universities seem to have higher per capita family income, this difference is not large enough to distinguish the two groups after controlling for other variables. These facts imply that there is an implicit transfer to the richest individuals in the society. We argue that equity and efficiency of the system can be improved by charging tuition-fees. Complementary, selective scholarships and loans could be offered to attract the most talented students from poor families.

The impact of AIDS on intergenerational support in South Africa: Evidence from the Cape Area Panel Study

This study uses panel data from Cape Town to document the role played by aging parents in caring for grandchildren who lose parents due to illnesses such as AIDS. The authors quantify the probabilities that older adults and their adult children provide financial support to orphaned grandchildren. The authors find significant transfers of public and private funds to older adults caring for orphans. Perhaps because of these transfers the authors find no differences in expenditure patterns between households with orphans and other older adult households. They also find no impact of either the death of a child or taking in orphaned grandchildren on adult well-being as measured by ability to work, depression, or self-reported health. Findings suggest that the combined public and private safety net in South Africa mitigates many of the consequences older adults could suffer when an adult child dies and leaves behind grandchildren needing care.

Paying the Piper: The High Cost of Funerals in South Africa

We analyze funeral arrangements after the deaths of 3,751 people who died between January 2003 and December 2005 in the Africa Centre Demographic Surveillance Area. We find that, on average, households spend the equivalent of a year’s income for an adult’s funeral, measured at median per capita African (black) income. Approximately one-quarter of all individuals had some form of insurance, which helped surviving household members defray some fraction of funeral expenses. However, an equal fraction of households borrowed money to pay for the funeral. We develop a model, consistent with ethnographic work in this area, in which households respond to social pressure to bury their dead in a style consistent with the observed social status of the household and that of the deceased. Households that cannot afford a funeral commensurate with social expectations must borrow money to pay for the funeral. The model leads to empirical tests, and we find results consistent with our model of household decision making.

Medical Compliance and Income-Health Gradients

Wealthier people live longer and experience less morbidity than do poorer people, in both developed and developing countries. While the association between income and health status has been well documented, the mechanisms leading to this correlation are unclear. In this paper, we use data collected from an informal urban township in South Africa to examine the extent to which compliance with medical protocols plays a role in the observed income-health gradient. Specifically, we look at adherence to protocols among individuals diagnosed with hypertension.

Why Have Urban Poverty and Income Inequality Increased So Much? Argentina, 1991-2001

This article analyzes the trends in income inequality and poverty among Argentine households during the nineties. We assess the effect of changes in labor force participation, unemployment, educational levels, and returns to individual characteristics on income inequality and poverty by using a microsimulation approach. We found that unemployment accounts for a large part of the increase in income inequality and poverty experienced in the past decade. Changes in labor force participation had an equalizing effect over the whole period, while changes in the returns to workers’ sociodemographic characteristics could be associated with a small increase in income inequality. With respect to poverty, unemployment affected negatively the proportion of households below the poverty line, amplified the poverty gap, and increased the severity of poverty. In contrast, changes in labor force participation are associated with a reduction in the poverty rate.

Early Childbearing, Human Capital Attainment, and Mortality Risk: Evidence from a Longitudinal Demographic Surveillance Area in Rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Using a rich longitudinal data set, we examine the relationship between teen fertility and both subsequent educational outcomes and HIV-related mortality risk in rural South Africa. Human capital deficits among teen mothers are large and significant, with earlier births associated with greater deficits. In contrast to many other studies from developed countries, we find no clear evidence of selectivity into teen childbearing in either schooling trajectories or prefertility household characteristics. Enrollment rates among teen mothers only begin to drop in the period immediately preceding the birth, and future teen mothers are not behind in their schooling relative to other girls. Older teen mothers and those further ahead in school for their age prebirth are more likely to continue schooling after the birth. In addition to adolescents’ higher biological vulnerability to HIV infection, pregnancy also appears to increase the risk of contracting HIV. Following women over an extended period, we document a higher HIV-related mortality risk for teen mothers that cannot be explained by household characteristics in early adulthood. Controlling for age at sexual debut, we find that teen mothers report lower condom use and older partners than other sexually active adolescents.