Abstract
The ageing population and the emigration of youth/adult Eritreans has given rise to dramatic social changes in Eritrea where the country is now referred to as, among Ethiopians and Eritreans alike, ‘ye azawint ager’ (an Amharic expression meaning ‘nation of the old’). In the literature on gerontology and the aging population, what is theoretically missing is the impacts of outmigration of the young, the traditional care givers of the old, in third world countries such as Eritrea. Young Eritreans have been emigrating from the country by the thousands for the last two decades leaving the old and the aging populations in vulnerable situations. There are no old age homes in the country and care for the aging and the old is given by family members, particularly the young. The state has no institutions for caring for the old and the aging. As these young people, who are mostly the economic providers of families, are leaving the country on a daily basis to neighboring countries, the old and the aging are left to fend for themselves which at times resort to begging and seeking help from neighbors or relatives. Drawing on interviews with my fellow Eritrean migrants living in the diaspora, I argue that theoretical conversations focusing on Third World countries and the aging populations should incorporate the links between youth/adult emigrations and the precarity of the old and the aging in countries that do not have adequate facilities to care for the aging and the old.
Presenters
Dr Amanuel Isak TewoldeSenior Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Social and Cultural Perspectives on Aging
KEYWORDS
Social change, Eritrea, Emigration, Youth, Adult, The aging
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