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How Poor are the Old? A Survey of Evidence from 44 Countries

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Whitehouse, Edward

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Abstract

This paper surveys 11 international comparative studies of poverty, income distribution and the elderly. Although it focuses on OECD economies, some 44 countries are covered. The paper addresses a series of questions. What level are the incomes of the elderly relative to the population as a whole? How has this changed over the past two decades? How many of the old are poor? How many of the poor are old? Are the oldest old poorer than younger pensioners? How do widows fare? What is the mix between public and private sources of income? Do the elderly poor remain poor? There is also a discussion of methodological issues. The results show that the incomes of the elderly are typically around 80 per cent of incomes of the populations as a whole. In most countries, this ratio has been increasing over the past two decades. Although there remain pockets of poverty among the elderly, most studies show that the old are represented proportionally or under-represented among the poor.

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Paper provided by University Library of Munich, Germany in its series MPRA Paper with number 14177.

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Date of creation: Jun 2000
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Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:14177

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Related research
Keywords: pensions; incoem distribution;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Rendall, Michael S & Speare, Alden, Jr, 1993. "Comparing Economic Well-Being among Elderly Americans," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 39(1), pages 1-21, March.
  2. Bernheim, B Douglas & Shleifer, Andrei & Summers, Lawrence H, 1985. "The Strategic Bequest Motive," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(6), pages 1045-76, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. B. Douglas Bernheim, 1987. "Dissaving after Retirement: Testing the Pure Life Cycle Hypothesis," NBER Chapters, in: Issues in Pension Economics, pages 237-280 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Richard Disney, 1996. "Ageing and saving," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 83-101, May. [Downloadable!]
  5. Richard Blundell & Ian Preston, 1995. "Income, expenditure and the living standards of UK households," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 16(3), pages 40-54, August. [Downloadable!]
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  7. Michael F. Förster, 1994. "Measurement of Low Incomes and Poverty in A Perspective of International Comparisons," OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers 14, OECD, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. [Downloadable!]
  8. Richard Disney & Paul Johnson & Gary Stears, 1998. "Asset wealth and asset decumulation among households in the Retirement Survey," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 153-174, May. [Downloadable!]
  9. Pablo Antolín & Thai-Thanh Dang & Howard Oxley, 1999. "Poverty Dynamics in Four OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 212, OECD, Economics Department. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Jantti, Markus & Danziger, Sheldon, 2000. "Income poverty in advanced countries," Handbook of Income Distribution, in: A.B. Atkinson & F. Bourguignon (ed.), Handbook of Income Distribution, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 309-378 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Morris, Nick & Preston, Ian, 1986. "Inequality, Poverty and the Redistribution of Income," Bulletin of Economic Research, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 38(4), pages 275-344, November.
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  15. Aaberge, Rolf & Melby, Ingrid, 1998. "The Sensitivity of Income Inequality to Choice of Equivalence Scales," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(4), pages 565-69, December.
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    Other versions:
  17. Dilnot, Andrew & Disney, Richard & Johnson, Paul & Whitehouse, Edward, 1994. "Pensions policy in the UK: An economic analysis," MPRA Paper 10478, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  18. Tsakloglou, Panos, 1996. "Elderly and Non-elderly in the European Union: A Comparison of Living Standards," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(3), pages 271-91, September.
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    Other versions:
  20. van der Gaag, Jacques & Smolensky, Eugene, 1982. "True Household Equivalence Scales and Characteristics of the Poor in the United States," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 28(1), pages 17-28, March.
  21. Woolley, Frances R & Marshall, Judith, 1994. "Measuring Inequality within the Household," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(4), pages 415-31, December.
    Other versions:
  22. Nancy Jianakoplos & Paul Menchik & Owen Irvine, 1989. "Using Panel Data to Assess the Bias in Cross-sectional Inferences of Life-Cycle Changes in the Level and Composition of Household Wealth," NBER Chapters, in: The Measurement of Saving, Investment, and Wealth, pages 553-644 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  23. Blackburn, McKinley L, 1998. "The Sensitivity of International Poverty Comparisons," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(4), pages 449-72, December.
  24. de Vos, Klaas & Garner, Thesia I, 1991. "An Evaluation of Subjective Poverty Definitions: Comparing Results from the U.S. and the Netherlands," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 37(3), pages 267-85, September.
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  26. Paul Baker, 1993. "Taxpayer compliance of the self-employed: estimates from household spending data," IFS Working Papers W93/14, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
  27. John McHale, 1999. "The Risk of Social Security Benefit Rule Changes: Some International Evidence," NBER Working Papers 7031, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  28. Quinn, Joseph F, 1987. "The Economic Status of the Elderly: Beware of the Mean," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 33(1), pages 63-82, March.
  29. Foster, James & Greer, Joel & Thorbecke, Erik, 1984. "A Class of Decomposable Poverty Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 761-66, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  31. Paul Johnson & Gary Stears & Steven Webb, 1998. "The dynamics of incomes and occupational pensions after retirement," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 197-215, May. [Downloadable!]
  32. Slesnick, Daniel T, 1993. "Gaining Ground: Poverty in the Postwar United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(1), pages 1-38, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Leonardo Gasparini & Javier Alejo & Francisco Haimovich & Sergio Olivieri & Leopoldo Tornarolli, 2007. "Poverty among the Elderly in Latin America and the Caribbean," Working Papers 0055, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata. [Downloadable!]
  2. Barrientos, Armando, 2002. "Comparing Pension Schemes in Chile, Singapore, Brazil and South Africa," General Discussion Papers 30560, University of Manchester, Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM). [Downloadable!]
  3. Herwig Immervoll & Horacio Levy & Christine Lietz & Daniela Manotvani & Cathal O’Donoghue & Holly Sutherland & Gerlinde Verbist, 2005. "Household Incomes and Redistribution in the European Union: Quantifying the Equalising Properties of Taxes and Benefits," IZA Discussion Papers 1824, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Disney, Richard & Whitehouse, Edward, 2002. "The economic well-being of older people in international perspective: a critical review," MPRA Paper 10398, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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