231 International Journal of Care and Caring • vol 7 • no 2 • 231–247 • © Policy Press 2023 Print ISSN 2397-8821 • Online ISSN 2397-883X • https://doi.org/10.1332/239788221X16763970967674 Accepted for publication 14 February 2023 • First published online 22 March 2023 research article Care and caring among ageing migrant workers in two informal settlements in Harare Chiko Ncube, p0092218@brookes.ac.uk Oxford Brookes University, UK Ignatius Gutsa, igutsa@sociol.uz.ac.zw University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Debora J. Price, debora.price@manchester.ac.uk University of Manchester, UK In this study of older migrants living in informal settlements in Harare, we seek to understand what care and caring means for older people ageing far from their place of origin in conditions of informality in a country with no formal care infrastructure. We fnd that care relations derive from histories of migration, community, kinship, aspiration, displacement and disenfranchisement, with the provision of security within insecure systems core to the very idea of care. Further action is needed at all levels to foreground how older migrants are living on Zimbabwean society’s margins and to facilitate their daily practices of care. Key words Zimbabwe • older migrants • ageing in place • informal settlements To cite this article: Ncube, C., Gutsa, I. and Price, D.J. (2023) Care and caring among ageing migrant workers in two informal settlements in Harare, International Journal of Care and Caring, 7(2): 231–247, DOI: 10.1332/239788221X16763970967674 Introduction In this article, we seek to understand what care and caring mean for ageing migrants living in informal settlements in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is a country with almost no formal care infrastructure that relies heavily on family care for the support needs of its population. Understanding the conditions for ageing, especially in conditions of poverty and uncertainty, is ever-more important for the region. Like other countries across Southern Africa, the proportion and number of older people in Zimbabwe is increasing. In Zimbabwe’s 2012 census, 1.3 million people (10 per cent of the population) were aged over 50, but this is expected to more than triple to 4.3 million people (17 per cent) by 2050 (US Census Bureau, 2022). As in many countries, most of this rise is in urban areas (WHO, 2011). There is a growing body of scholarly research on the lives of older people in Zimbabwe showing ageing to be a major risk factor for social work and care (Nyanguru, 2007; Gutsa and Chingarande, 2009; Hungwe, 2011), climate change SPECIAL ISSUE • Family care of older people in Southern Africa Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/05/23 02:01 PM UTC