Black Tax: How Christians Should Care for Ageing Parents (Part 5)

Posted on April 8, 2025 by Paul Schlehlein

–– Paul Schlehlein

The audio version of this article is available here: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

The Black Tax has become such a pervasive issue in South Africa over the past several decades that books like Handle Black Tax Like a Pro have become a thing.

High earning blacks feel such a heavy duty to provide for lesser privileged family members that they often feel lost at sea as to how much and to whom they are bound to give. In this series we’ve observed pertinent biblical passages that address this issue.

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Black Tax: How Christians Should Care for Ageing Parents (Part 4)

Posted on March 25, 2025 by Paul Schlehlein

–– Paul Schlehlein

The audio version of this article is available here: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

The black tax refers to the money black Africans feel obligated to pay in order to support their parents and siblings. Zimbabwean Masimba Musodza says the black tax is “when one person is seen as having made it and is obligated to support all the less well-off relatives, no matter how distantly related.”

So ingrained is the black tax in African culture that to request absolution from such expectations is like asking a cat to bark. Pardon from the black tax is impossible and should a man ignore it, he best prepare himself to be bête noire.

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Black Tax: How Christians Should Care for Ageing Parents (Part 3)

Posted on March 18, 2025 by Paul Schlehlein

–– Paul Schlehlein

The audio version of this article is available here: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

According to Visual Capitalist, South Africa has one of the lowest effective retirement ages in the world, defined as the average age of exit from the labour force for workers aged 40 years or more. The lowest age in the world is fifty-nine from the country of Luxembourg. South Africa is just a year older at age sixty.

Luxembourg makes sense, since it has by far the world’s highest per capita GDP at $129,000 per year. But South Africa’s per capita GDP is about one hundred spots lower at $6,000 per year. How can such an early retirement coexist with such a low GDP per capita?

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Black Tax: How Christians Should Care for their Ageing Parents (Part 2)

Posted on March 11, 2025 by Paul Schlehlein

–– Paul Schlehlein

The audio version of this article is available here: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

In a now-deleted Tiktok rant, Elsa Majimbo roared to one of her parents: “I was born, I was raised, I grew up, now you’re asking me for money – you lazy [expletive]. I’m not feeding your habits.”

This is how some African adults feel today. They rage at the thought of supporting their parents, especially if it’s a delinquent Dad or Mom.

What should be the realistic expectations for adult children in caring for their parents? This is a common conundrum in Africa, where fathers and mothers often insist that their children finance them until death. But it’s not only about money. How should children interact with their parents’ transgressions?

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Black Tax: How Christians Should Care for their Aging Parents (Part I)

Posted on March 4, 2025 by Paul Schlehlein

–– Paul Schlehlein

The audio version of this article is available here: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

These days, many Africans are feeling the pressure of the “black tax”, a colloquial term referring to the obligation of children to provide for their parents on a continual basis.

Poverty in Africa adds to the anxiety but sometimes wealth only makes the black tax worse. Some even call it an epidemic. The layers of difficulty are many, especially with first-generation Christians who feel torn about how to help unbelieving relatives, some of whom face financial difficulties of their own making.

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