Poverty among older people in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

Abstract This paper provides evidence on the incidence of poverty among older people in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), based on household survey microdata from 20 countries. The situation of older people is characterised in terms of income, education, health and access to services vis‐à‐vis the rest of the population. The paper identifies the role played by the current pension systems in LAC, and assesses the efforts needed to achieve substantial improvements towards the reduction of old age poverty. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.