STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF POVERTY AMONG THE ELDERLY IN A CROSS-NATIONAL CONTEXT
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF POVERTY AMONG THE ELDERLY IN A CROSS-NATIONAL CONTEXT

Summary/Abstract: The view that poverty does not rise with age has become a world-wide unspoken assumption in poverty debates and policy. Older people are assumed to be comparatively welloff, because they had the opportunity to accumulate social, physical and financial assets during their lifetime. It seems to bring support for this view that in developed countries poverty is significantly lower among old people, due to a widespread rise in transfers to older groups from public and private pensions and the establishment of comprehensive social insurance programs. In this paper I will compare poverty of the elderly in different countries and analyze how public pension programs, when available, may impact it. I will argue that understanding poverty in later life, and developing appropriate policy, requires the acknowledgment of the contribution of older people to their households and communities.

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