Welcome to the selfish ‘me generation’

Economists love writing and speaking about the dependency ratio — the ratio of those below 16 years plus those above 64, compared to the working population aged between 16 and 64. Kenya’s dependency ratio is 81, Japan’s 62 and US’ 50, according to the World Bank.

This means in Kenya, for every 100 working people, we have 81 dependents — not working, but eating and doing what every human being ought to do.

Save and invest

In the US, for every 100 working people, there are 50 dependents. The higher ratio for Japan is because of the ageing population, while in Kenya, and Africa in general, the large number of children raise the ratio. Japan has 14 per cent of its population aged below 14, while Kenya’s is at 42 per cent.

Using neat pyramids, economists demonstrate how this dependency has slowed the continent. They suggest that in Africa, one wage earner supports more people than in Japan or USA. They argue such sharing makes it hard to save and invest and perpetuates the cycle of poverty. Our cultures were based on this sharing.

Enough on data. This dependency ratio seems to have come to a sudden end, upsetting age-old socioeconomic systems and demanding new thinking into what it means to grow old.

For generations, parents had many children as a form of social security in old age. It was unlikely that all would neglect them. High mortality rates led to large families to ensure survival.

Today, large families are becoming rare, courtesy of education and contraception. The average family from casual observation has reduced from an average of four to two in urban areas, but with unintended consequences.

Large families ensured children learned to share and postpone gratification. Chapati was for Christmas and bread was only brought by visitors. Shoes were worn when going to high school and first salaries were used to educate siblings.

Today, small families have ensured children have it all to themselves. They get what they want, when they want. Their parents, having been victims of deprivation, would not like to see their offspring suffer.

Neglected parents

Having grown up in large families, modern parents have no model on how bring up few children. As the generation of small families mature, they are far removed from the culture and ethos of their parents; they no longer share anything.

What is interesting is that they are not even willing to help their parents. Once they are educated and find a job, they are gone. They will come back to you only if they have a problem or a celebration like a graduation or marriage.

Parents can no longer rely on these children to take care of them in old age. How many neglected parents do you know?

These children, called the “me and myself generation” do not save. They live for today and are more interested in their peers than their extended families.

They do not want to be bothered even in the work place. Investing is foreign vocabulary to them. If they invest, they do it secretly to avoid anyone noticing they have money and asking for help.

Cycle of irresponsibility

Parents have been their first victims because they taught them that they could do everything for them. Lots of such children live with their parents into their 30s to avoid responsibility. They save for leisure, not to buy land. Parents find it easy to “help” the children, perpetuating the vicious cycle of irresponsibility.

All this is to be expected as the country progresses and our social security system develops. Parents might still need support as they probably did not save enough because they sacrificed to give their children the best education. Why else is tuition so popular?

I came face to face with this phenomenon in America’s Deep South (Mississippi) where parents took up another responsibility: they brought up their grandchildren.

How many Kenyan parents are taking care of grandchildren who are not orphans? The scary thing about this scenario is that irresponsibility, which is a close relative of poverty, becomes inter-generational and hard to break.

Where do we go from here?

When economists come up with esoteric equations and graphs to explain growth, they often ignore the soft issues that cannot be modelled but are very important. How do you model responsibility? How do you model selfishness or jealousy in economic graphs?

Yet, for an economy to grow, we cannot ignore our family values and responsibilities. They are a better predictor of economic success than discoveries of oil or gas.

If you are a parent, what would make you happier than having responsible children who can be trusted to take care of themselves, their siblings, yourself, and if possible, the next generation? (It’s not about money!)

This breed of children is now being swallowed by the swirling vortex of progress, particularly in urban areas where capitalism without a human face has become the new religion.

The success behind Asians, both in their countries and as immigrants, is buttressed on values such as responsibility and caring for one another. The rise of China, Japan and Korea is founded on their sense of community.

I’m not calling for the return of communism, but in a country where socio-economic systems are not developed, we still need each other.

Even when Kenya becomes a developed country, we shall still need each other. Should we do something about the “me and myself generation” or wait for market correction, to quote economists?

The writer is a lecturer, University of Nairobi.
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