Multidimensional Poverty Among Older People in Five Latin American Countries

This paper offers an updated picture of the nature of deprivation in old age in Latin America, as well as an analysis of its different dimensions. Based on harmonized cross-sectional social protection surveys for Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, El Salvador, and Uruguay we estimate and compare multidimensional poverty indices for older adults. We consider the following dimensions: housing, health, labor and social security, and education. Our results illustrate the disparities in multidimensional poverty of the older people across the region. We also provide original evidence about deprivations in health that go beyond health coverage and underline the importance of Social security at older ages. The general picture indicates that Housing is the dimension with lower deprivation rates, whereas Health presents the higher levels of deprivation. Chile and Uruguay stand out for their relatively good performance in Labor and Social Security.