EXPLORING PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF WORK, RETIREMENT AND RESILIENT AGING TRAJECTORY: IMPLICATIONS FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN BOTSWANA
EXPLORING PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF WORK, RETIREMENT AND RESILIENT AGING TRAJECTORY: IMPLICATIONS FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN BOTSWANA

Author(s): Wapula Nelly Raditloaneng, Kgapo Lamont Kago Raditloaneng
Subject(s): National Economy, Social development, Health and medicine and law, Nationalism Studies, Gerontology, Human Resources in Economy, Socio-Economic Research
Published by: Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, Ekonomski fakultet u Osijeku
Keywords: work; retirement; aging; health; education; national development;
Summary/Abstract: In this chapter, we share personal experiences of 40 years of paid professional work, foreseeable retirement in a year, and national opportunities using the aging population. What prompted us to contribute these thoughts is that I had a blissful professional life and have only one more year to retire. As a single mother of two dependent grown-up boys, we would like to contribute to the discourse on the interconnection between work, retirement and multiple social vulnerabilities and opportunities due to the realities of aging globally, regionally and locally. Estimated at 43 million in 2010, the population of older adults in sub-Saharan Africa is projected to reach 67 million by 2025 and 163 million by 2050. Many older people are impoverished but unable to participate in productive economic activity comfortably. Some force themselves to partake in hard labor like land tilling and alcohol brewing to keep afloat. The content of this chapter can contribute to the global use value of aging to the newly elected Government of Botswana to revisit the role of the aging population across different disciplines in nation-building. The aging and able-bodied population can meaningfully contribute to the economy at a low cost if their skills are documented and required to groom younger adults and youth in Botswana at family, community, and national levels. This should be based on different levels of the economy’s needs. Close to retirement, I still have to contribute to the critical role of a single mother solely responsible for two grown adult sons aged 32 and 30 in 2025. The chapter draws from social theories of aging, i.e. Disengagement (Cumming & Hendry, 1961; Hochschild, 1975), and Activity and Social Clock (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011). This combination suggests that life after work may result in Disengagement, low level of Social Activity and vulnerabilities related to the ticking Social Clock. The chapter also takes into account Sustainable Development Goals 3 (Good Health and Well-Being) and 4 (Quality Education), as set out by the United Nations (2015). Using the health and education sectors as contact points, the main conclusion posed in this book chapter is that older adults are a diverse group of those who may be satisfied with inactivity disengagement and those who may still have the capacity and willingness to be socially active in giving back to their communities that badly need their expertise for national development even post-retirement. However, their health, wellness, capacity and willingness determine what they can do, tapping on their experiences and professions. Finally, the chapter proposes a prototype community development project where healthy, willing and capable adults can be robbed to advance their relevance, mental health and social activity for promoting best practices in the use of human resources with skills for building resilience in health and education systems that are key for resilient aging, national development, and promotion of human rights of older adults.

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