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The economic well-being of older people in international perspective: a critical review

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  • Disney, Richard
  • Whitehouse, Edward

Abstract

This paper surveys a dozen international comparative studies of poverty, income distribution and older people in industrialized countries using data up to the mid-1990s. It addresses a series of questions. At 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 of the old poorer than younger pensioners are? The results show that the incomes of older people are typically around 80 per cent of incomes of the whole population. This ratio has been increasing over the past two decades in most countries. Although there remain pockets of poverty among the elderly, the old are generally represented proportionally or under-represented among the poor.

Suggested Citation

  • Disney, Richard & Whitehouse, Edward, 2002. "The economic well-being of older people in international perspective: a critical review," MPRA Paper 10333, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:10333
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jean-Marc Burniaux & Thai-Thanh Dang & Douglas Fore & Michael Förster & Marco Mira d'Ercole & Howard Oxley, 1998. "Income Distribution and Poverty in Selected OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 189, OECD Publishing.
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    7. Whitehouse, Edward, 2000. "How poor are the old? a survey of evidence from 44 countries," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 23141, The World Bank.
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    17. Megbolugbe, Isaac & Sa-Aadu, J. & Shilling, James D., 1999. "Elderly Female-Headed Households and the Decision to Trade Down," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 285-300, December.
    18. Richard Disney, 1996. "Can We Afford to Grow Older?," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026204157x, April.
    19. Alessandra Colecchia & Paul Schreyer, 2001. "ICT Investment and Economic Growth in the 1990s: Is the United States a Unique Case? A Comparative Study of Nine OECD Countries," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2001/7, OECD Publishing.
    20. Whitehouse, Edward, 2001. "Pension systems in 15 countries compared: the value of entitlements," MPRA Paper 14751, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    Cited by:

    1. Flood, Lennart & Klevmarken, Anders & Mitrut, Andreea, 2006. "The income of the Swedish baby boomers," Working Papers in Economics 209, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    2. Koen Caminada & Kees Goudswaard & Qingqi Liu & Chen Wang & Jinxian Wang, 2024. "Determinants of Elderly Poverty in 21 European Countries, 1995-2022," LIS Working papers 882, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    3. Bruce Bradbury, 2008. "Housing wealth as retirement saving: Does the Australian Model Lead to Over-Consumption of Housing?," LWS Working papers 7, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    4. Gary Burtless, 2004. "The Age Profile of Income and the Burden of Unfunded Transfers in Four Countries: Evidence from the Luxembourg Income Study," LIS Working papers 394, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    5. Inhoe Ku & Wonjin Lee & Seoyun Lee, 2021. "Declining Family Support, Changing Income Sources, and Older People Poverty: Lessons from South Korea," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(4), pages 965-996, December.
    6. Vandeninden, Frieda, 2012. "A Simulation of Social Pensions in Europe," MERIT Working Papers 2012-008, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    7. Kevin Lomax & Brian Gran, 2003. "Two Worlds of Retirement Income: A Comparative Analysis of Retirement-Income Outcomes Using the Luxembourg Income Study," LIS Working papers 353, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    pension; retirement; income distribution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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