Family's roles as a welfare pillar: The case of older persons living in extreme poverty in Bangladesh

Abstract

Motivation: Many mainstream welfare theories developed by social scientists and applied by economists and policy-makers underestimate families' roles in providing welfare to citizens. This is surprising given that the family constitutes one of the main welfare pillars across typologies of the welfare state.Purpose: This article seeks to explore the role of the family as a welfare pillar with an ageing perspective. We aimed to test whether the family serves as a space for negotiations to improve wellbeing and achieve security in the absence of effective formal mechanisms Methods and approach: Applying the framework of "informal security regimes," this article draws on 37 life-history interviews collected from older persons living in extreme poverty in Bangladesh. Recurring themes are identified and analysed to explore the relationship between family and wellbeing/security. Findings: We find that family relationships are often central in the pursuit of security. This shows how welfare delivery in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), in this case Bangladesh, is deeply rooted in reciprocal family systems where all members actively fulfil moral and material expectations.Pursuing this collective goal can take different forms relative to each member's physical and mental capacity, position, gender, and age. Building on the empirical evidence,

The role of informal support systems during illness: A qualitative study of solo self-employed workers in Ontario, Canada

“…However, very little research has addressed how SE’d workers’ survive during times of injury or illness by drawing on informal support systems, with the exception of Hilbrecht [ 16 ]. It is historically evident that informal support systems, such as social network, family relationship, kinships, and friendships play a pivotal role in times of distress [ 46 , 47 ]. Against the backdrop of historical role of such relationships and social security system coverage gaps, we discerned how this relationship supported SE’d workers, following their illness, income reduction/job loss.…”

“…In our study, SE’d workers welcomed the emotional, mental, financial, and practical supports provided by family and social networks. Welfare theorists and social scientists have been castigated for ignoring the role of family in people’s welfare [ 46 ]. Akram and Maitrot (2022) stressed that the family is the pillar of all welfare systems; however, their analyses were built upon the lower middle-income countries and cannot be expected to apply to advanced economies that emphasize individualism [ 46 ].…”

“…Welfare theorists and social scientists have been castigated for ignoring the role of family in people’s welfare [ 46 ]. Akram and Maitrot (2022) stressed that the family is the pillar of all welfare systems; however, their analyses were built upon the lower middle-income countries and cannot be expected to apply to advanced economies that emphasize individualism [ 46 ]. However, our study suggests that, for SE’d workers in high income countries, families maintain an important welfare role.…”

“…road accident) disasters [ 63 , 64 ]. Similarly, South Asian countries traditionally provide informal care to the elderly [ 46 ]. Although Canada is a high income and predominantly individualistic country, the large population of immigrant families from non-individualistic cultures may provide particular support for self-employment.…”