| dc.description.abstract | This report documents the findings from a qualitative research project designed to examine
the attitudes of informal sector workers towards saving for retirement pensions. The research
sought to inform the workers perceptions towards the existing pension schemes more
specifically the Mbao pension plan that is designed for low income earners.
Six group discussions were conducted; three for female and three for males. Each gender was
separated into three age groups, consisting of ages 18-29, 30-40 and 41-55 with between six
and eight participants were conducted in October 2013. Each of these lasted for
approximately two hours. Participants were recruited on the basis of age, gender, work status
and whether they were currently saving for a pension. These groups were supplemented by a
series of five follow-up face-to-face key informant interviews of approximately one to one
and a half hours in length. The key informants who were interviewed consisted of a shop
steward for the Mbao pension plan, the secretary of the Jua Kali Association, and an artisan
who has worked in the cluster for several years and was perceived as an opinion leader, an
artisan who has been saving for retirement for the last one year and a hotel owner who has
knowledge of the scheme but does not see any compelling reason to save.
There was a broad consensus that saving was a good thing and that people should be making
provision for the future – both in the long- and short-term. However, there were also negative
stereotypes of typical savers and the sort of lifestyle they led; many had a vision of ‘misers’
livingserious lives.Participants were very much focused on their immediate lives and had
rarely given any thought to the future beyond the next few years, let alone their retirement
years and how they would fund them.
Old age tended to be perceived as restricted, boring and bleak and not worth thinking about,
although some participants also cited the experience of family members living a positive and
happy old age. Few participants were concerned about their own retirement, although they
were aware that this time may not always be ‘rosy’.
A few participants understood the basic principles of pension schemes, but generally there
was little understanding of different types of pensions and how they operate.
Many participants perceived that the amount they could afford to save in a pension was too
small to be worthwhile, and what little money they did have spare was allocated to more
immediate demands such as university or moving to their first home.
Some participants perceived that other savings vehicles were preferable to pensions as they
thought they offered higher returns. The most commonly-cited of these was buying a property
and livestock. This perception was heightened by a mistrust of pensions, with participants
fearing that there was a risk of corruptstate employees embezzling the funds or pension
companies becoming insolvent and scheme members losing their money and notbeing
compensated. | en_US |
