Indias elderly poor are being left behind

Published: Oct. 24, 2017, 5:26 a.m.

b'Poverty among the elderly in developing countries such as India is on the rise as the traditional extended family unit dissolves, fertility rates decline, migration to urban jobs rises, and government attempts to improve aged care have left many falling through the gaps.\\n\\nA small minority of workers in the formal sector are secure, but the vast majority of informal sector workers face poverty in their old age because they lack social protection. \\n\\nTo improve the income security of the elderly poor, the Indian government introduced the National Old Age Pension Scheme in 1995, a cash transfer to mitigate poverty faced by the elderly.\\n\\nRead the transcript\\nhttp://bit.ly/2zy3pMA\\n\\nRead the working paper\\nhttps://www.adb.org/publications/targeting-social-transfers-are-india-elderly-poor-left-behind \\n\\nAuthor\\nViola Asri, a PhD candidate at the University of Zurich and a visiting doctoral researcher at the Laboratory for Effective Anti-Poverty Policies at Bocconi University in Milan\\n\\nKnow more about ADBI\\u2019s research on pensions\\nhttp://bit.ly/2f84CWy'