The scale of the unmet financing needs of older adults around the world – and especially in lower and middle-income countries – is so significant that if unaddressed, it won’t just be each generation as it enters the later years that pays the price. It’ll be their families, healthcare systems, governments, and societies writ large, too. In India, for example, only 12 percent of the population has any sort of pension. A rapidly growing demographic, within 25 years, the percent of the world’s population over 60 will nearly double.
Recent progress does deserve mention. Just a few days ago, on the heels of last year’s launch of the Jan Dhan Yojana national financial inclusion strategy, India’s central government unveiled three new contributory social security schemes for pensions, life insurance, and disability insurance. Our hope is that these new programs are hugely successful and prove demonstrative for other countries to follow.
Since 1990, in Latin America and the Caribbean, 13 countries implemented programs to expand non-contributory pension schemes, and there have also been significant reforms to contributory schemes. Though benefits and scale are still inadequate. In Latin America, non-contributory pensions usually pay-out less than US$10 per day, and fewer than two of ten independent workers are contributing to pensions.
Why has financial inclusion of older adults been so difficult, and what’s the path forward?
A new Financial Inclusion 2020 (FI2020) video explores these questions, spanning topics of age caps for loan recipients, addressing older client needs, and mobilizing the public and private sectors.
The video features the following individuals:
- Yves Moury, Fundación Capital
- Rosario Perez, Pro Mujer
- Elizabeth Loewy, EverSafe
- Harsha Rodrigues, Women’s World Banking
- Parul Khanna, MicroPension Lab
To watch the video, press play on the embedded video above or head to our CFI YouTube page, here.
For more on aging and financial inclusion, read the HelpAge and FI2020 report, Aging and Financial Inclusion: An Opportunity, here.
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