This paper provides evidence on the incidence of poverty among the elderly
in Latin America and the Caribbean, based on household survey microdata
from 20 countries. The situation of older people is characterized in terms of
income, employment, education, health and access to services vis-à-vis the
rest of the population. The paper identifies the role played by the current
pension systems in Latin America, and assesses the efforts needed to achieve
substantial improvements toward the reduction of old-age poverty.