Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 20

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Paragraph text
Most older women are excluded from formal social security and health insurance schemes as these are linked to paid, formal-sector employment. In developing countries, the great majority of women work all their lives in the informal sector or unpaid activities. In developed countries too, older women are more likely than men to be poor at old age. On average, in European Union countries, older women have a poverty risk rate of about 22 per cent as compared to 16 per cent for older men. They are less likely to receive a large contributory pension since they are more likely to have stopped work at some point over their lifetime to take on the burden of child rearing and are also more likely to have received lesser wages for their work than men.
Legal status
Non-negotiated soft law
Body
Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
Document type
Special Procedures' report
Means of adoption
N.A.
Topic(s)
  • Equality & Inclusion
  • Health
  • Poverty
Person(s) affected
  • Older persons
  • Women
Year
2010
Paragraph type
Other
Paragraph number
20