Is the economic contribution of grandparents underrated?

A grandparent, Mburu Mwikonyi now 93. He fought in Burma during WWII, Mau Mau and spent time in detention. He lives near Nyahururu on the former white highlands. [PHOTO: X.N IRAKI]

NAIROBI: We all look forward to aging gracefully when one day we shall watch our grandchildren chasing butterflies or running around in the rain.

With pride we will look back at the economic contribution we made to the country, while ensuring the perpetuation of human race. Looking at Kenya’s rising life expectancy, there is no doubt that the country will boast of more grandparents in future.

In Kenya, everyone, from policy makers to churches seem focused on the youth. That is not unusual, the vibrancy of the youth attract a lot of attention, not necessary good. The youth have energy and are valued economically; they work long hours, at times for low pay and are very innovative.

Advertisers use them to promote their goods and services, making the elderly nostalgic of the good old days. The youth are well represented in crime and other vices, courtesy of energy. Crime demands lots of energy. The politicians see their numbers as the route to power through voting or hired muscle men to intimidate opponents.

But with time, we all age. While being called Mzee is a sign of respect, the person being called so does not really appreciate it, if he or she can be sincere. Recently someone sent me a video clip of a three-year-old crying for being told she is three. She did not want to be old like her grandparents. We seem to fear aging quite early. Nothing makes most people happier than when you misjudge his or her age downwards.

Entrepreneurs know we would like to stay forever young. They make money selling lot of anti-aging products from hair dyes to drugs (including Viagra) and cosmetics. And the market is big. Even entertainment industry has not been left behind. One local FM radio station has built its success on playing old music which evokes the good old days when the current middle aged men and women were young. There is something nostalgic when you listen to a song which was a hit when you were in form one or two.

One unintended consequence of aging is that you become lonelier. Children often leave home and rarely return, except around Christmas or if you have a problem. That loneliness scares me and a lot of other people. Some grandparents are lucky and are taken care of by their children, while in the west they stay in nursing homes; though that is catching up in Kenya.

Loneliness follows the elderly to the nursing homes. Holding all factors constant, the best place to age is in your home, surrounded by familiar sites and people. With age, we lose our energy to perform economic tasks, culminating in retirement. That does not mark the end of economic usefulness. What role do the elderly, the grandparents play in our economy? Can we capture that in our GDP?

First, even in old age, we remain consumers and create demand in the economy. Economic growth is driven by both consumption and investment. The exact balance depends on the state of economy on growth. Grandparents consume lots of products and services. One service they create a huge demand in is medical.

Research shows that most of our medical expenses come early in life and later in the life. Kenya’s proportion of the elderly is small compared with say Japan, but it’s expected to rise. Future entrepreneurs should better note.
Two, grandparents contributed to the economic growth when they were working through savings. That could be their private savings or compulsory ones like pension or insurance. That pension was not laying idle waiting for their retirement, it was invested. The beauty about pension is that its mandatory and lots of money is pooled together. If it’s well invested, it could make a big difference to the economy. Pension forms one of the most reliable source of investment.

Three, grandparents take care of the next generation. There are a number of children who are brought up by their grandparents. I found that very common in America’s Deep South. Some feel the grandparents are idle, and their slack time can be used in bringing up kids. The negative part of this is that grandparents are usually very kind, and likely to be spoilt kids. In some families there are strict guidelines that children should never be brought up by grandparents.

With rising number of children born to unmarried mothers, the number of kids raised by grandparents could rise. Some argue that grandparents should be left alone to age gracefully without the hustles of raising kids. Others argue they are rewarded for taking care of the next generation. It is keeps them company and busy while kids’ parents take care of their basic needs.

Four, grandparents serve as a source of inspiration. Those who care to listen to them, find their experiences very useful. Some have even argued that if the current government listened to wazee (elderly), they would be having fewer problems. Throughout their lives, grandparents have succeeded and failed in many endeavours. Why should we repeat their mistakes?

In advanced economies the elderly find their way to parliament and corporate boards. Here we prefer to call them old guards, as if aging is crime. How often do we use the late John Michuki as the benchmark in performance of our ministers, yet he was one of the oldest members of the Cabinet? In the USA Supreme Court judges serve for life. The Kibaki vs Uhuru regimes offer us a free experiment to find out if age matters in leadership and even in economic growth.

Some argue eloquently that our grandparents lived in a different era, with no Facebook, cellular phones and all the modern technology. But surprisingly, lots of things remain the same and are invariant to changing times. A good example is relationship. You could dispute this, but you can get as good counselling on marriage from your grandparent as from a PhD holder in counselling.

Modernism

Five, grandparents serve as a stabilizing force in most families. Families have someone they can refer to, someone with family history. They may be called patriarchs or matriarchs, but they are a source of pride for most families. There could be other roles of grandparents and you are free to add to the list.

If grandparents play such a great role in our economy, why don’t we celebrate them? Consumed by modernism and its emphasis on youth, we often forget the pioneers who came before us and made this country and our homes what they are today. Think of the grandparents who fought in World Wars, in Mau Mau or resisted the coming of white men?

I recently interviewed such a grandparent, Mburu Mwikonyi, a veteran of WWII and Mau Mau, now aged 93. His stories are fascinating. He saw action in Burma (Myanmar) in 1945 travelling through India and Sri Lanka. His description of Japanese fighters is very interesting. He, like many other veterans scattered all over the country are unrecognized and forgotten. British veterans got land in Kenya. Mburu lived near a farm formerly owned by General Wainright. What did we give our veterans? When shall we create a department of veteran affairs? More veterans are coming from Somali.

Most grandparents are luckier than us; they have lived through periods of great changes, from our traditional societies, through colonialism to modern times. If we could learn from them, we could be more focused and avoid a lot of mistakes. The complaints over generation Y could be muted if they admit they have had very limited experience beyond videogames and TV. While they watch action movies involving guns and death, some grandparents saw that live. The wisdom from grandparent is informed by reality not idealism.

Where do you go from here? In most developed countries, the elderly called senior citizens are well taken care of. They pay less when travelling and have other privileges. It is heartening that the government has started cash transfers to the elderly, like grandparents. They deserve a dignified life; after all few can deny the fact that they spent the best part of their lives taking care of the next generation, and ensuring the economy has its key players –people.

Can we have programmes for the elderly equivalent to National Youth Service? Aging is inevitable; it’s part of great cycle of life, from conception to our demise. It should be as exciting as the youth or any other stage in life. Let us celebrate it.

—XN Iraki is a senior lecturer at University of Nairobi’s School of Business