DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2018.v06i08.014

Pages: 1573-1579

Social exclusion is a process by which individuals or social groups are detached from key social realms that determine an individual’s integration in the society, through poverty, loneliness and lack of effective family and community social support systems. The current study intended to establish the extent to which rural-urban migration of the elderly persons’ offspring influence social exclusion of the elderly; examine the influence of elderly persons’ limited access to ICT on their social exclusion; and to evaluate the influence of the weakening family and community support systems on elderly persons’ social exclusion in Alego-Usonga. The study applied both quantitative and qualitative designs employing both structured interview schedules and in-depth interviews. The data generated from both tools was analyzed through descriptive statistics and complemented with qualitative analysis. A two-staged cluster sampling method was employed to draw a sample of 100 elderly persons from the selected clusters. The findings confirm that migration of elderly persons’ offspring to urban areas, mainly in search for employment opportunities had a significant influence on the livelihood of the elderly persons left behind. The increased spatial distance created alongside limited rural visits by the migrants greatly contributed to elderly persons’ social exclusion. Further, elderly persons’ limited access to ICT influenced their social exclusion mainly through lack of information, limited communication with migrant family members and the community as well as little or no remittances received through mobile platforms.