ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL END OF AWARD REPORT

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1 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL END OF AWARD REPORT For awards ending on or after 1 November 2009 This End of Award Report should be completed and submitted using the grant reference as the subject, to reportsofficer@esrc.ac.uk on or before the due date. The final instalment of the grant will not be paid until an End of Award Report is completed in full and accepted by ESRC. Grant holders whose End of Award Report is overdue or incomplete will not be eligible for further ESRC funding until the Report is accepted. ESRC reserves the right to recover a sum of the expenditure incurred on the grant if the End of Award Report is overdue. (Please see Section 5 of the ESRC Research Funding Guide for details.) Please refer to the Guidance notes when completing this End of Award Report. Grant Reference RES Grant Title Ageing, Poverty and Neoliberalism in Urban South India Grant Start Date Total Amount Grant End Date Expended: 152, Grant holding Institution Birkbeck College Grant Holder Dr Penny Vera-Sanso Grant Holder s Contact Details Address Geography, Environment & Development Studies Birkbeck College Malet Street London Co-Investigators (as per project application): Local collaborator: Dr V Suresh Project advisor: Professor Barbara Harriss- White Partner organisation: Mark Gorman p.vera-sanso@bbk.ac.uk Telephone Institution Centre for Law, Policy and Human Rights Studies, Chennai University of Oxford HelpAge International 1

2 1. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY Please provide below a project summary written in non-technical language. The summary may be used by ESRC to publicise your work and should explain the aims and findings of the project. [Max 250 words] Using the example of the metropolitan city of Chennai, India, the research examined the forces shaping poverty and ageing in developing-country cities under neoliberal policy regimes. The research found that economic forces unleashed by a neoliberal policy context, including a high level of economic growth, together with the global financial crisis, increased economic pressures on the urban poor and that these pressures fall hardest on older people. It demonstrates how conceptualisations of the urban economy, work, worker, the aged and the family in policy and planning can lead policy makers to misconceive what older people do and what they are capable of. The project found that older people play a significant productive role in the urban economy but that this role is unrecognised by the State. Instead of facilitating work in old age, or providing pensions for anything more than a minority of the older urban poor, State policies reflect the assumption that families provide for their aged. This approach does not take into account the impact of poverty, neoliberal policies and economic planning in constraining younger people s capacity to provide or care for the aged; instead of permitting withdrawal from economic activity, poverty forces people to work deep into old age, both to support themselves and to subsidise family budgets. The State s failure to recognise older people s contribution to the economy, their needs as workers and their rights as citizens constrains their productivity and wellbeing; often hastening frailty and enforcing dependence on families already suffering significant levels of deprivation. 2. PROJECT OVERVIEW a) Objectives Please state the aims and objectives of your project as outlined in your proposal to the ESRC. [Max 200 words] The overall aims of the project are to: 1. provide the evidence base for a global debate on the forces shaping the older urban poor s capacity to be self-supporting or to access family, marketmediated and state resources to supply subsistence in developing countries. 2. identify policy measures that could strengthen their capacity to earn a living. The specific aims are to: a) chart changes in the legal, social, cultural, political and economic contexts that impact on the urban poor s capacity to be self-supporting or to access family or state support. b) collaborate with local user groups to understand how policies and planning impact on the welfare of older generations and to identify policies that would strengthen their capacities to earn a living or access family and state support. c) provide the evidence base for mainstreaming gerontology into all policy and 2

3 planning in developing countries, disseminating findings to policy makers, academics, representatives of NGOs, pressure groups/networks in India, the UK and to UN agencies. d) work with user groups to establish local, national and regional networks addressing the issues raised for older people by participation in the global economy. e) extend local research capacities by training research assistants. b) Project Changes Please describe any changes made to the original aims and objectives, and confirm that these were agreed with the ESRC. Please also detail any changes to the grant holder s institutional affiliation, project staffing or funding. [Max 200 words] Variations to the project arose from local and global events that impeded progress and enlarged the study s scoping of factors that impinge on the urban poor. These factors included Cyclone Nisha, extended heatwaves, global food price hikes and the global financial crisis. To map the impact of the global financial crisis and food price hikes on the livelihoods and welfare of the urban poor. The proposed economic survey of 200 households was replaced by 3 rounds of economic surveying (covering Nov 08, Jan 09 and May/June 09) of over 100 households economies, 40 micro businesses and 80 wage workers Finding trained research assistants willing to work in Chennai s slums proved difficult, resulting in more extensive training than had been envisaged. Similarly, data entry and statistical analysis needed to be contracted out in India and in the UK. In the light of the global financial crisis impact on funding, HelpAge International was not able to fully meet its commitment to fund an international conference in India. The team secured further funding from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and from Help Age India. A no-cost extension of 6 months was agreed with the ESRC. c) Methodology Please describe the methodology that you employed in the project. Please also note any ethical issues that arose during the course of the work, the effects of this and any action taken. [Max. 500 words] The project s methodology is multidisciplinary, merging anthropological and economic data through an interdisciplinary analysis. Further, the objective was to locate our understanding of older people s lives within the wider context of urban poverty and the international political economy within which the urban poor are 3

4 situated. The methodology identified factors determining the wellbeing of older generations amongst the urban poor before and after economic liberalisation by investigating gender and household relations, livelihoods, social and economic networks, and depictions of gendered and aged personhood, needs and rights in a range of fields within the public arena, This historically comparative methodology used two primary data sets, one gathered by the Principal Investigator in and the other between by the project team. In the methodology comprised a mix of quantitative, qualitative and observational methods in 5 low-income settlements of varying size and caste/religion background in central and southern Chennai. To enable a direct comparison, two of the five settlements had been studied by the Principal investigator between In addition a street market in central Chennai was observed for 2 years. A survey of discourses embedded in policy documents, legislation, news and popular films provided insights into public discourses on older people, their needs and rights and the obligations of family and state towards older people. In 2007 the electoral rolls were used to generate a systematic sample of 800 households across the five settlements studied. A baseline survey of socioeconomic status, kin networks, and use of the state s subsidized food system were used to garner information on urban poverty as whole as well as to identify difference by urban location, caste, religion and gender of the head of household. From this sample, 175 households took part in semi-structured interviews to gather detailed information on migration, work and family backgrounds, intergenerational relations and paid and unpaid work. 105 households as well as 40 micro business owners and 80 wage workers were surveyed twice to assess the impact of the global financial crisis and global food price hikes on the urban poor. The methodology allowed the project insight into the larger processes of urban poverty in which the older urban poor are situated as well as the concerns of people as they progress through the life course. The 800 household sample covered 3474 people of whom 417 were aged 60 and over and 168 aged 70 or more. The in-depth semistructured interviews with members of 179 households included 98 people aged 60 and over. A survey of social and economic policy and urban planning documents, Indian national data sources, legislation, print media and popular local language films as well as discussions with activists, NGOs, local academics and officers of the Indian Administration Services provided insights into the conceptualization of older people, their capacities, needs and rights as well as the obligations of the family and state towards them. 4

5 d) Project Findings Please summarise the findings of the project, referring where appropriate to outputs recorded on ESRC Society Today. Any future research plans should also be identified. [Max 500 words] 1. The project found 12% of low-income settlements are aged 60 plus, a youth bulge and excess mortality across all age bands, but especially for men in their early 40s. These changes, combined with the particularities of the city s economic and welfare system, results in the early onset of age discrimination in the labour market (from age 45), gaps in the multi-generational family structure and people working into late old age. 2. Public and policy arena discourses and conceptualisations of old age and intergenerational relations misconstrue the older urban poor s poverty and dependence; obscuring their causes and exacerbating factors, hindering policy development. It is the structural impact of poverty that determines family form, not westernisation or filial neglect. Poverty forces early nuclearisation of the family and late reintegration of older people, forcing larger numbers into the labour force. Consequently many older people live alone and work late into old age. 3. A discursive shift in public and policy arenas towards the needs and rights of younger people is shifting family orientation from family needs to those of children and young adults. Economic pressures on families have increased the pressure on older parents to provide greater and more regular assistance (housing, childcare, cash) to married children and to reduce their own consumption and expectations of support compared to the pre-neoliberal period. 4. The study uncovered the economic value of the contribution of the elderly to the local and political economy; an economic contribution entirely disregarded by policy makers, planners and activists. Older people work in over forty occupations and have three roles in the economy. As street vendors they are the end-point in the distribution of agricultural produce across the city. Their paid and unpaid service work releases younger women into the workforce, including into the factories and IT industries catering to the global market. By providing cheap inputs for critical sectors (eg rubble for the construction industry) and cheap services to the workforce (eg car washing, night watchman and small building repairs) they keep the cost of inputs and overheads down throughout the economy. Twenty-eight percent of people over age 60 defined themselves as working, as do 20% of people aged A large proportion of older people, especially older women, do not define themselves as working yet the importance of their unpaid helper roles are evident from the collapse of businesses and the withdrawal of younger women from the workforce when older people s labour is no longer available due to accident, illness or death. 5. Street vending acts a critical safety net for the older urban poor as it allows them to tailor their work to their capacities. 6. The public resource-capped, poverty-targeted, non-contributory pensions are not 5

6 available to a large proportion of the older urban poor and the rate given does not meet the costs of a minimal urban subsistence. 7. Global price hikes and financial crisis have increased urban poverty and further reduced nutrition levels. 25 outputs are recorded on the ESRC Society Today website. e) Contributions to wider ESRC initiatives (eg Research Programmes or Networks) If your project was part of a wider ESRC initiative, please describe your contributions to the initiative s objectives and activities and note any effect on your project resulting from participation. [Max. 200 words] The New Dynamics of Ageing Programme s objective is to improve the quality of life of older people though a range of means including the development of practical policy and implementation guidance achieved through an integrated understanding of the changing meanings, representations and experiences of ageing and the key factors shaping them. Direct engagement with older people, user groups, the Older Person s Reference Group (OPRG), other projects in the Programme and access to ESRC training were central to the programme. The project is working towards realising the improvement of older people s quality of life by raising awareness of older people s work and poverty and it causes in popular, policy and academic circles, in part by working with potential user groups and through a wide ranging and innovative consultation and dissemination strategy. The project has worked with the OPRG, other projects in the Programme and with the ESRC media trainers to share strategies for increasing research effectiveness and increased impact, an example of which has been the OPRG putting the PI in touch with the United Nations Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women s working group on older women. 6

7 3. EARLY AND ANTICIPATED IMPACTS a) Summary of Impacts to date Please summarise any impacts of the project to date, referring where appropriate to associated outputs recorded on ESRC Society Today. This should include both scientific impacts (relevant to the academic community) and economic and societal impacts (relevant to broader society). The impact can be relevant to any organisation, community or individual. [Max. 400 words] The impact of a research project that uncovers large-scale misconceptualisations and discrimination regarding a social group needs to be measured in terms of the successful dissemination of findings to the public and user groups that, in the long term, help to generate public support for policy change as occurred with research that underlay policy frameworks opposing gender, race and disability discrimination in the UK and internationally. The expected impacts are primarily societal and scientific. The project s dissemination strategy is focused at three levels: local, national and international. Strategies at the local and national levels are focused on the general public in India and on policy makers, educators, campaigners and other key opinion makers who have not considered ageing a priority issue in anti-poverty measures. A wide range of dissemination techniques have been used, many of which were reported locally in new and old media in English and Tamil languages. Photo exhibitions raising awareness of older people s contribution to the economy, public hearings on older people s access to pensions and food rations, public meetings on old age poverty and discrimination; guest lectures at three universities; presentations in Chennai s planning consultation workshops, meetings with key policy makers and elected representatives and an extended article in the Hindu Sunday Magazine. A two-day international conference, held in Chennai (funded by HelpAge India, HelpAge International and the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras) in March 2010, is encouraging national-level social activists to broaden their anti-poverty work to cover the specifics of old age poverty and a debate on a universal old age pension has been generated and gaining acceptance with a policy shift being actively considered by the State Government of Tamil Nadu. At the international level, to raise awareness of and provide evidence on old age poverty in developing countries, the Principal Investigator guest edited a special volume on ageing in Oxfam s journal of Gender and Development which is widely read among practitioners, policy makers and academics across the world as well as presenting papers at UK and international conferences. Project findings and evidence have also been used by HelpAge International in their publication Forgotten Workforce: Older people and their right to decent work (2010) and the working group of the UN Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women who are developing a recommendation on older women. 25 outputs are recorded on the ESRC Society Today website. 7

8 b) Anticipated/Potential Future Impacts Please outline any anticipated or potential impacts (scientific or economic and societal) that you believe your project might have in future. [Max. 200 words] The project is expected to have medium term and long term impact. In the medium term (ie 12 months) we expect that the profile in India of the older urban poor will be raised amongst social activists involved in high profile national campaigns such as the Right to Food Campaign. We anticipate a developing awareness of and increased inquiry into the role of older people in the economy in public and scientific discourse as well as a widening enquiry into the sources of old age poverty that do not resort to the de-traditionalisation/filial neglect argument. We expect the debate to quickly spread to issues of older rural poverty. In the longer term (over 12 months) in India we anticipate changes in welfare provision emerging for older people and hope for their greater inclusion as active social and economic citizens in economic policy and urban planning. If shifts do occur in India, in the conceptualisations of older people, their economic roles, rights and needs and in policy, planning and implementation, this is likely to have significant wider scientific and societal impacts beyond India. You will be asked to complete an ESRC Impact Report 12 months after the end date of your award. The Impact Report will ask for details of any impacts that have arisen since the completion of the End of Award Report. 8

9 4. DECLARATIONS Please ensure that sections A, B and C below are completed and signed by the appropriate individuals. The End of Award Report will not be accepted unless all sections are signed. Please note hard copies are NOT required; electronic signatures are accepted and should be used. A: To be completed by Grant Holder Please read the following statements. Tick ONE statement under ii) and iii), then sign with an electronic signature at the end of the section. i) The Project This Report is an accurate overview of the project, its findings and impacts. All co-investigators named in the proposal to ESRC or appointed subsequently have seen and approved the Report. ii) Submissions to ESRC Society Today Output and impact information has been submitted to ESRC Society Today. Details of any future outputs and impacts will be submitted as soon as they become available. OR This grant has not yet produced any outputs or impacts. Details of any future outputs and impacts will be submitted to ESRC Society Today as soon as they become available. OR This grant is not listed on ESRC Society Today. X X iii) Submission of Datasets Datasets arising from this grant have been offered for deposit with the Economic and Social Data Service. OR Datasets that were anticipated in the grant proposal have not been produced and the Economic and Social Data Service has been notified. OR No datasets were proposed or produced from this grant. X 9