Health and social protection policies for older people in Latin America

Lloyd-Sherlock, Peter (2014) Health and social protection policies for older people in Latin America. In: International Handbook on Ageing and Public Policy. Handbooks of Research on Public Policy . Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 217-226. ISBN 9780857933904

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Abstract

Most Latin American countries devote relatively large amounts of funding to social policies, especially policies of particular relevance to older people, such as pensions (ECLAC, 2007). Despite this, the capacity of these schemes to enhance the situation of older people from poorer sections of society is often quite limited. Across the region, many older people remain excluded from pension schemes and have little access to appropriate health services. The main reason for this is that social spending is mainly devoted to social insurance schemes that focus on better-off groups. Despite the high degree of inequality and exclusion generated by these schemes, they have remained resistant to reform, due to the political influence of those groups they benefit. This chapter provides a general overview of these issues and then sets out some alternative models of social provision for older people. In more recent decades, several Latin American countries have established or extended social assistance schemes for their older populations. These include large-scale social pension schemes in Brazil and Bolivia, and a pioneering health insurance scheme in Mexico. The chapter briefly reviews these schemes and their impacts on older people, before identifying lessons for Latin America and beyond.

Item Type: Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords: sdg 1 - no poverty,sdg 10 - reduced inequalities ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/no_poverty
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of International Development
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Life Course, Migration and Wellbeing
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Health and Disease
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Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 19 Feb 2016 16:00
Last Modified: 09 Aug 2023 00:19
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/57205
DOI: 10.4337/9780857933911.00027

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