Old Age Security and Inheritance in Nepal: Motives Versus Means

Abstract

This paper documents expectations of old age support in rural Nepal. Current living arrangements of the elderly have been analysed with a focus on the ownership of land holdings. It is argued that the intergenerational transfer of property through inheritance from the older to the younger generation, especially among sons, together with the Nepali normative prescription that sons care for their aged parents, provides a mechanism for old age support. However, land is becoming a scarce resource, cultural traditions are breaking down through modernisation and the living conditions of the elderly are likely to deteriorate as this process continues.