ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an analysis of the situation of older people in Zimbabwe based on a study sample of 150 men and women aged 55 and older. The mean age of the sample was 69; a third was 55-64 years, 43 percent were 65-74 years, and a quarter was 75 and older. Income is probably the most difficult characteristic to obtain for older Africans for several reasons. Men received more income than women from the following sources: salary, children, rent, pension, and savings/interest. Women face disadvantages financially in old age as they earn a living in fluctuating and perhaps marginal sectors such as agriculture and the informal economy. The poorest and most vulnerable group of elderly, unmarried rural women live in two types of living arrangements, alone or in complex families. For both types, levels of illiteracy, widowhood and education are very similar.
