Moller Valerie

Online appendix to the authors’ paper published in Social Indicators Research under the title: ‘The Best and Worst Times of Life for South Africans: Evidence of universal reference standards in evaluations of personal well‐being using Bernheim’s ACSA’. From the introduction: The Anamnestic Comparative Self‐Assessment (Bernheim’s ACSA), a measure of personal well‐being, was applied in the 10th annual round of the nationally representative South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS), a research infrastructure that has been administered by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) since 2003. The target population for the survey was individuals aged 16 and over who live in South Africa. The multi‐stage sampling frame used by SASAS is based on census enumerator areas and data is weighted to the South African population using Statistics South Africa’s mid‐year population estimates as a benchmark. A total of 2’521 persons were interviewed in October and November 2012 by trained fieldwo...

The second number of SAJG again presents knowledge on ageing and the aged which can be useful in the development of better practices and the formulation of better policies in southern African countries. A focus of the articles in this number is on housing and living arrangements. Nyanguru and Peil writing on Zimbabwe give a finely detailed description of the housing situation of the elderly population using survey material. They draw on comparisons with other developing contexts to place the Zimbabwean housing situation in perspective. At the outset, the authors note that the impact of disability on the elderly is directly related to the nature and quality of housing. In conclusion to their overview of urban and rural housing circumstances. they recommend a more appropriate housing policy for the elderly which makes provision for home maintenance and home-help services to assist the elderly to stay in their homes. Moller re-analyses data collected for South Africa's baseline stu...

[From the preface]: This report is a sequel to ‘Living in Grahamstown East/Rini – A Social Indicators report’ published by the Institute of Social and Economic Research in 2001 as Number 6 in its Research Report series. The No. 6 monograph was based on results of a sample survey of householders conducted in May 1999 in the area of Makana generally known as Grahamstown East or Rini at that time. This report is based on information collected in November 2007 in the same area. The ‘Living in Rhini’ project takes its title from a series of reports on social indicators initiated by Statistics South Africa (then Central Statistical Services). The popular series aimed to communicate to ordinary people the statistics on living conditions in various parts of the country. The 1999 sample survey conducted among 862 households from all neighbourhoods of Grahamstown East/Rini was a large survey by most standards. The 2007 sample similarly comprises over 1000 households spread over all neighbourhoods of Rhini including the ones developed since 1999

publisher versionFrom Introduction: Are the people in Africa really among the least happy in the world? And if African countries do have a ‘happiness deficit’, what are the prospects of Africa achieving happiness in the near future? These are questions we shall try to address in this chapter. The World Happiness Report (WHR), published since 2012, has found that happiness is less evident in Africa than in other regions of the world. It reports Gallup World Poll (GWP) ratings of happiness, measured on the ‘ladder of life’, a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 indicating greatest happiness. On the map of the Geography of Happiness, published in an earlier World Happiness Report Update 2015, the happiest countries in the world are shaded green, the unhappiest red. Africa stands out as the unhappiest continent, being coloured almost entirely in shades of glaring red (See Fig. 4.1). In 2017, the WHR reports that average ladder scores for over four in five African countries are below the mid-point of the scale (see Fig. 4.2). And only two African countries have made significant gains in happiness over the past decade . There are also considerable inequalities in life evaluations in African countries, and this inequality in happiness has increased over the past years . In this chapter, we shall tentatively seek a number of explanations for the unhappiness on the African continent, which is home to about 16% of the world’s population. It will be no easy task to identify factors that may have shaped perceptions of well-being among the 1.2 billion African people who live in 54 nation states with different historical, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds. Nonetheless, we shall attempt to describe some of the positive and negative experiences in the lives of people in African countries that likely impact on personal well-being. We shall also try to identify the prospects for change and development that could spell hope for increasing the happiness of African people in future

[From Editorial] Each of the papers in this number of SAJG deals with dilemmas and issues in the matter of public and private care for older persons in southern Africa. Three papers deal explicitly with South Africa's social-security system·- specifically the old-age pension. Two papers deal with residential care models. And a sixth paper examines informal caregiving. In an expansive overview of public finance and ageing in South Africa, Van der Berg examines budgetary expenditure on the older population and places the magnitude and function of the social-pension system in perspective. The author briefly traces the historical evolution of the system. In a paper based on extensive archival research, Sagner details the history of the pension from 1920 to 1960 and shows that numerous contemporary pension-related issues are no different to issues of past decades. In her paper, Oakley examines the effects of recent changes in social-welfare policy on the residents and administrators of a home for marginalized older people in a remote South African town. She contends that new policy erroneously assumes that marginalized and historically disadvantaged older individuals are able to live self-sufficiently within the bosom of family - in a spirit of ubuntu. Ackermann and Matebesi report on a study of the experiences of carers of older family members in an African township and consider how these carers, who have few resources, could be assisted and supported in their care giving tasks. Mupedziswa describes the nature and functioning of an alternative residential care model in Zimbabwe - a cooperative living scheme specifically established to enable destitute and socially-impoverished older people to co-reside in a safe and mutually-supportive environment. Moller gives readers an insightful update and analysis of the January 1998 pension payment debacle in the Eastern Cape Province, when the payment of more than 600 000 pensioners was delayed because of provincial-government management errors. Finally, SAJG welcomes Wilson's announcement in a letter to the editor of the establishment of AFRIT A, whose aims are to promote and to co-ordinate linkages between training and research initiatives on ageing and policy structures in African countries

Club excursions afford unique learning experiences for senior black women which redefine roles for older township women and reinforce positive intergenerational relationships. Personal accounts of the highlights of excursions out of townships obtained from over 120 female club members in focus group interviews contrast sharply with their daily experience of the depressed quality of life in the townships. Evidence suggests that participation in senior excursions, which are commonly viewed as a luxury in developing contexts, enhances the social prestige of older women in the community. From a human resources development viewpoint, it is argued that excursions which inspire self-confidence and widen horizons may assist the older generation to make a greater contribution to shaping community life in post-apartheid South Africa.

A multidimensional study was conducted during 1990-1991 of the living circumstances of elderly persons in South Africa. The main objective of the survey was to collect baseline data on the current status of, sociodemographic characteristics, living circumstances and life satisfaction of elderly people in South Africa. The data were collected separately for the four population groups and therefore would be available for comparison of the circumstances of the elderly in the different groups. The survey was undertaken to provide a better understanding of the interrelationship between population ageing and the development process in South Africa. Within this context the data would indicate the opportunity structures and constraints to successful ageing experienced by the more advantaged and disadvantaged groups of seniors. This understanding was necessary for formulating future policy options and implementing effective programmes for the elderly in the country. A secondary objective was to provide data on the elderly and ageing in South Africa for comparison with similar categories of data available in other developed and particularly developing countries

South Africa celebrated 20 years of democracy in 2014. In 1994, life satisfaction among all South Africans peaked following the first open non-racial elections. Since that time, only some 45–55 % of the total population, on average, state that they are satisfied. Drawing on Alex Michalos’ classic Multiple Discrepancy Theory (MDT), this chapter explores the needs, expectations, aspirations and perceptions of progress among black South Africans, who were promised a better life under democracy by the new government they voted for in 1994. Findings suggest that expectations raised by the new government in the early years of democracy, coupled with a strong sense of entitlement to state services and welfare in later years, are among the strongest drivers of life satisfaction 20 years into democracy. South Africa’s democracy project is still a work in progress and black South Africans continue to hope for a better life in the future.

In this chapter, we trace the well-being of people living in the sub-Saharan region of Africa over time, focusing on what are universally considered to be main ingredients of the good life in modern times: health, education, and the income and resources needed to meet basic needs and to prosper. The people of sub-Saharan Africa do not have a common identity, but we have isolated some of the experiences and commonalities that bind the people of the region. The glory of earlier civilizations and of traditional religious beliefs and rituals that cemented the social order and the disruption of African society by foreign incursions during the period of discovery and the Atlantic slave trade and colonialism all had their impact on the African imagination. Well-being in Africa south of the Sahara suffered when people living in Africa were oppressed and exploited between the fifteenth and early twentieth centuries. The winds of change in the 1960s brought freedom and a new sense of dignity. Since independence, there are signs of improvements in key domains of life, but the modern states of sub-Saharan Africa are still addressing the many political and development challenges they face. Optimism and resilience are characteristic of the people living south of the Sahara who have faith that their dreams of a better life will come true.

Crime is thought to be a major concern that shapes the everyday lives of South Africans. But what impact does living with high levels of crime have on the mindset of ordinary citizens? A recent household crime victimisation study conducted in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality provides tentative answers to this question.

This text is the result of a three-year research programme into the spare time activities of the black youth of South Africa. It concerns all South Africans and examines the future of the youth of that country. This study contains survey data, analysis and proposals for new youth policy. It provides insights into how black youth make use of their leisure time; results of a nationwide investigation into youth activities; data on venues and facilities for township and shackland youth; extracts from a "diary day" research programme; practical interventions to assist the development of youth clubs, and proposals for post-apartheid youth policy.

The papers in this volume were first presented in two different tracks ("assessing quality of life and living conditions to guide national policy" and "happiness, life satisfaction and subjective well-being") at the Third Conference of the International Society for Quality of Life Studies, 20-22 July 2000, Girona, Spain. Taken together the papers report in full on the 1999 round of research for the Quality of Life Trends project, the last before the new millennium.

Unemployed persons typically experience a range of negative psychological symptoms, referred to summarily as the 'unemployment blues'. The paper reviews psychological theories of unemployment which seek to explain the origins of the blues and the role of personal control and social support systems in dissipating them. The vexing question of the interrelationship between psychological and economic deprivation is explored. Drawing on survey data collected during the period 1987-89 among over 1300 unemployed black South Africans resident in three metropolitan areas, the paper describes individual experiences of the blues and personal efforts to overcome them. It is observed that persons who feel confident of their self-worth and feel they have control over their lives are capable of sustaining morale during unemployment. However, society undermines self-confidence in subtle ways. It is demonstrated that persons out of jobs incorporate society's views of unemployment into th...