Medición de la dependencia en Uruguay. Contexto y estimación de la prevalencia

The interest in the care of dependent people has gained space in recent years at the national, regional and international levels. It has also gained space in the academic and public policy arenas. However, not enough progress has yet been made in improving the availability of clear and precise information on the prevalence of dependency in the population, especially among the elderly and people with disabilities.This study seeks to estimate the prevalence of dependency in elderly or disabled people in Uruguay and to relate these results to the prevalence of dependency in other developing and developed countries. Using the data from the two waves of the Longitudinal Survey of Social Protection (2013 and 2015), the prevalence of dependency ranges between 5 and 17% of people aged 60 years and over, depending on the indicator used. All the indicators show that dependency increases with age and that it becomes especially prevalent among people aged 85 and over. The prevalence among people under 60 years of age in 2015 is clearly lower than that observed for older people, being below 6% in all cases. The results presented in this document suggest that the prevalence of dependence estimated in the second round of LSPS is similar to that estimated for other countries, while the prevalence observed in the first wave is exceptionally low.