Age and Poverty
Armando Barientos, Brooks World Poverty Institute, University of Manchester, UK
In most countries, the probability of experiencing poverty is correlated with age. Social protection often has a strong age bias, principally an old age bias. In high-income countries this has come under scrutiny, partly as a result of pressures arising from demographic and financial trends and partly as a result of proposals for reform. In middle-income countries, social pensions account for a significant share in the expansion of social assistance often competing with programmes focused on families with children. Against this context, the paper addresses two main questions: What is the nature of the relationship between age and poverty? How best to account for age in antipoverty transfers?
About the speaker
Armando Barrientos is Professor and Research Director at the Brooks World Poverty Institute at the University of Manchester in the UK. His research focuses on the linkages existing between welfare programmes and labour markets in developing countries, and on policies addressing poverty and population ageing. His most recent books are ‘Social Protection for the Poor and Poorest’ (2008, edited with D. Hulme, Palgrave); ‘Just Give Money to the Poor’ (2010, with J. Hanlon and D. Hulme, Kumarian Press); ‘Demographics, Employment and Old Age Security: Emerging Trends and Challenges in South Asia’ (2010, edited with Moneer Alam, MacMillan), and ‘Social Assistance in Developing Countries’ (2013, Cambridge University Press).
Venue: Conference room, Keizer Karelplein 19, Maastricht
Date: 18 June 2015
Time: 16:30 - 17:30 CEST
