Poverty, the Aging, and the Life Cycle in Latin America
Figure 3.9
101
Poverty Ratios for the 60+ and 80+ Populations Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica
Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela, R. B. de LAC average (unweighted) 0
5
10
15
20 80+
25 ratio 60+
30
35
40
45
50
all
Source: Authors’ calculations.
It is also interesting to note that the four countries where the elderly are significantly less poor than the average are all countries with low levels of poverty among the old old. This suggests that the main problems of poverty among the elderly are found among the old old, and that countries that have programs that target poverty among the old old have largely succeeded in reducing poverty among the elderly. (Notice that these comparisons are done on estimations based on per capita incomes, with no adjustments for economies of scale or adult equivalence.)
Drivers of Old-age Poverty and the Role of Pensions and Other Transfers As explained in the previous section, the relative situation of the aging in terms of income poverty incidence varies among countries in LAC. In