Keeping regular and healthy relationships with family, friends and other community members is important to elderly people, in part because it increases their sense of belonging and engagement with their environment, both of which are essential to overall wellbeing (Allen, 2008). Continuous engagement with family, community and other networks (e.g. religious, cultural and traditional networks) contributes to the wellbeing of the elderly in developing countries, including Ghana (Apt, 2002; Moen, 1996; Wu and Rudkin, 2000). Not many of the respondents ranked social wellbeing as most important or important among the five dimensions of wellbeing. Only 3.9 percent each of the respondents ranked social wellbeing as most important and important. Those who ranked it as moderately important constituted 7.6 percent, slightly important 26.1 percent, and least important 58.5 percent. Notwithstanding this, quantitative data show that 83 percent of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with their social relationships. Very few respondents said they were dissatisfied with their social relationships. Specifically, 9 out of 10 had regular interactions with their immediate families, 8 out of 10 had regular interaction with the extended family, and 8 out of 10 belonged to religious groups that met regularly. These findings were reflected in the qualitative data analysis.
6.5.1 Drivers of social wellbeing among retirees
The qualitative data analysis shows that two key factors drive the social wellbeing of interviewees. They include intra family relationships and community level relationships. The combination of these two sets of relationships and the intensity or regularity of these relationships ultimately determine the measure of interviewees’ social wellbeing.
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Intra family relationships
As far as social relationships are concerned, the general goal among interviewees is to maintain good relationships within their families and communities. Within family relationships refers to both immediate and extended families and within community relationships refers to various groups and associations to which interviewees belong and participate in their activities. For instance, as far as the immediate family is concerned, interviewees seek to maintain cordial and regular contacts with their spouses, children (particularly adult children and their spouses), and extended family members, many of whom do not live with them. In the extended family, retirees also expect to not only maintain their contact but also play the roles expected of them as elders, whether high or low income retirees.
As for social relationships, after the unfortunate death of my big brother in 2011, when I retired, I have had to take up the mantle of leadership in the family. We are four siblings: two boys and two girls, so I am the only male left with two women. So a lot of responsibilities have fallen on me in the family (Yaw Adjei, high income)
In my family, I am the senior man so anything that happens, they call me. If there is any funeral or something, they call me. It is the same thing with my wife’s family too. They depend on me for anything (Emmanuel Akoto, high income).
It is important to note that many of the interviewees were already playing the role of ebusua
panyin5 in their families. This means that matters relating to the extended family and its members were brought to their attention, which increases their involvement in the affairs of their extended families. Even those who do not play such roles were recognized as elderly members of their respective families and were expected to play the traditional roles such as participating and supporting events related to births, marriages, dispute settlement, funerals, etc. that take place in the extended family. This ensures that most retirees are not only involved in the affairs of their immediate families, but also their extended families, which gives them a sense of belonging (Atobrah, 2016).
Community level relationships
At the level of community, almost all the interviewees belonged to a community group in addition to the SSNIT pensioners’ association. Some belonged to the pensioners’ association
5 Ebusua panyin is a term used among the Akans of Ghana to refer to the head of the lineage. Given that life expectancy in Ghana is 58 years and retirement age is 60 years, it is not surprising that some of the interviewees were already playing that role in their families.
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of the organizations they worked with, and others belonged to political, professional, and religious groups in their communities. Participation in religious group activities stands out prominently among the social relationships of interviewees. An empirical study in Ghana on the role of non-state actors in social protection service provision by Andoh, Doh, and Afranie (2017) found as many as eight categories of non-state actors scattered across communities in Ghana, including community mutual aid groups. Many of them are self-financing through membership dues and donations.
It is the set of all these social relationships that Wrzus et al. (2013, p. 53) describe as a person’s social network, but they noted that to qualify as a social network, interactions between the individual and network partner(s) must be repeated. Thus, they distinguished between single and repeated interactions. In a similar vein, Helliwell and Putnam (2004) reiterate the importance of family and other social ties to the formation of social capital, which contributes to wellbeing. As noted by Allen (2008), when older persons build and maintain engagement with their communities, it helps them to have a sense of belonging and increases their wellbeing. This is the case with the interviewees, irrespective of their income level. The importance attached to social interactions at the community level was emphasized when interviewees enumerated the various community groups and associations they belonged to.
We also have our Pensioners’ Association. Now my former employer has also formed Old Workers Association, I am also a member of my ethnic group association in my community. We attend meetings every month. At these meetings, you meet old friends, we chat and share our problems and we advise ourselves on how to cope with life (William Tetteh, low income).
I am very sociable, I engage with a lot of people. In my church for instance, I am the chairman of the welfare committee. I am also a political animal. I am the chairman for the local polling station of my political party, so we meet every Sunday. I also have my colleague pensioners in this area, we get around a few times and we discuss issues. I was among the earliest people to move to this community, so a lot of people know me and I also know a lot of people. So the interactions are very good for me, I don’t feel lonely (Kweku Mensah, high income).
The importance attached to religious groups is observed through the payment of tithe (usually a tenth of income) to the church. The interview with Emmanuel Akoto further shows the attachment to religious activities through frequent attendance in a week: “I am a Christian and
I attend church every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday”. Africans, and for that matter
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(Mbiti, 1990; Platvoet and van Rinsum, 2003), which is demonstrated by the importance attached to religious expressions and participation throughout the life-course. Indeed, Mbiti (1990, p. 1) suggests that for Africans, human life and all its experiences is religious. In other words, religion cannot be divorced from the life of the African. Yaw Adjei, for instance, plays a key role in church:
In fact, in my church for example, I am a facilitator, we try to teach the Bible. So in my group, I facilitate the teaching of the Bible. So we attend meetings, teach ourselves in order to teach the members. So for that it is only church (Yaw Adjei, high income).
It is very common to find sign-posts of one religious group or another dotted across communities, a phenomenon that has accompanied the proliferation of Christian religious expressions in Ghana since the 1990s (Sackey, 2001). For most elderly people, particularly those who are retired, participation in religious activities becomes a means of engaging with other members of their communities as well as what is divine and sacred.
Helliwell (2003, p. 348) confirms that multiple connectedness, whether with voluntary associations, religious groups, or other associations, increases the quality of wellbeing for individuals. The interview with Kweku Mensah (high income) also shows that social interactions at the community level reduce boredom and impact positively on health.
At least it kills boredom and makes me feel like I belong to society. And as somebody’s welfare is your welfare, definitely you will also be in need someday. It helps me to move around and not confined to my room, which can leading to all sorts of thinking and so many things. Definitely if you are out and discussing help for people, the boredom is out and reduces stress, worrying and so forth (Kweku Mensah, high income).
Interviewees generally identified boredom as a major challenge in retirement and therefore anything to reduce boredom was deemed important to them. Social relationships to them are key and they pursue them within and outside the family.
6.5.2 Financial implications of social relationships
The maintenance of social relationships goals comes with financial costs. In the context of the family, the financial obligations are in the form of supporting family activities and events, the cost of transport and travel to hometowns (where applicable), financial support to parents (if
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alive) and other family members. Responding to the question whether responsibilities towards the extended family impose a challenge to his finances an interviewee responded as follows:
A lot of stress, a lot, a lot of stress, yes a lot of stress. For example, next week Friday I have to attend a wedding of one of my nephews. The next two weeks I have to attend one too for my niece and it is all in my home town. So the transport element is a lot of money. There are funerals coming up there as well. Because my sister is there, if I am not able to travel to my hometown, at least I have to send some money for donation. That is it. So the money you make is what you are using to take care of your social responsibilities (Yaw Adjei, high income)
This means that these social obligations towards the family as well as family expectations upon retirees impose financial responsibilities on interviewees, irrespective of the level of pension received because both high and low income retirees shared similar sentiments. As noted by Velkoff (2001), the flow of inter-generational support in the form of finance, shelter, and childcare, is not always unidirectional, from adult children to parents. In many societies, the flow of such support is also from older parents to their adult children, grandchildren, and other family members.
In the context of the community, financial costs come in the form of membership dues and donations, offerings and tithes in religious groupings. This is also typical of community mutual aid groups in Ghana as illustrated in a study by Andoh et al. (2017). Even though maintenance of social relationships has associated financial cost to interviewees, they still pursue it because of its importance to their social and health wellbeing (Helliwell, 2003; Wu and Rudkin, 2000).
6.5.3 Social wellbeing viewed through the lens of the capability approach
Figure 6.4 illustrates how the income of retirees at the time of retirement affects their functioning and the impact of conversion factors likes skills/experience and extent of family and community engagements in the process. At the time of retirement, retirees have a set of resources (pension income, skills and experience) which they use to attain their desired social wellbeing.
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Figure 6.4: Trajectories for converting income into functioning in social wellbeing
Source: Author’s construct from conceptual framework
As noted in Sen’s capability approach, capabilities provide the ability or freedom to achieve a set of functionings in social wellbeing (good relationships within family and community, sense of belonging and reduced loneliness) but these are achieved through the extent of family engagements and role expectations, and participation in community groups, associations, and social clubs. These come with financial obligations in the form of dues, contributions, offerings and tithes. Through these obligations and involvements, the retirees are able to engage with their environment, which reduces boredom, and gives them a sense of satisfaction as elderly members of their families/communities. Though social wellbeing is not about money, money, and for that matter pension income, contribute directly to the maintenance of the social wellbeing of the retirees (functioning).