The social security of rural elderly people: a case study of Mbeya rural district

This study discusses the social security of rural elderly people since they have been neglected in terms of social and income security despite the fact that it has been stipulated in the national social security policy (2003) that every citizen has the right to be protected against social and economic distress. The main objective of this study was to examine the social security of rural elderly people. Methodological triangulation was used to collect information on the social security system used by rural elderly people in overcoming various contingencies. This involved the use of survey interviews, focus group discussions, in depth interviews, narratives and documentary reviews. The results show that (i) respondents had different background characteristics such as age, gender, education level, marital status, religion, occupation and number of children. (ii) respondents had different explanations on the perceptions and meanings of their constraints, context and experiences. Findings on the coping mechanisms revealed that respondents had different mechanisms for overcoming various contingencies. Also findings on the factors that influenced the social security of rural elderly people showed that independent and dependent variables contributed in their social security. Independent variables included social, political, economic and demographic while dependent variable was the social security/insecurity of rural elderly people. The study concludes by pointing out the policy and research implications of the findings.