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HelpAge International:

An older Kenyan woman feeds her orphaned grandchildren.

Photograph: Kate Holt/HelpAge International.

Introducing a universal pension can increase food security among the world’s poorest households and help protect against future rises in the cost of food

In recent weeks the news has been dominated by stories of soaring food prices which are affecting the world’s poorest people.

During the last year, the cost of foodstuffs which form the basis of poor people’s diets has increased sharply; rice by 75 per cent, and wheat by a staggering 130 per cent.

The UN has warned that the current crisis could push 100 million people living on less than $1 a day deeper into poverty, increasing the risk of malnutrition and starvation. The World Bank has called for targeted subsidies to help the poor buy food.

Older people in developing countries, often disproportionately affected by poverty, are among those hit hardest. The majority have no access to a regular income or social security, and many head multi–generational households in which they support children and grandchildren. Poverty rates in households with older people are up to 29 per cent higher than households without.

While subsidies may help to temporarily relieve this crisis, only measures which increase long term food security among the world’s poorest will deliver protection against similar situations in the future.

How universal social pensions can help

HelpAge International is calling for the introduction of a universal social pension for people over the age of 60 which will increase food security, nutritional intake and health for older people and the households they support.

In Lesotho, which launched the old age pension in 2004, food security has been improved in three important ways:

• older people have increased the amount of food they and other members of their households eat, and any children living with them are no longer sent to school hungry,

• the relative regularity and predictability of pension income has stabilized food consumption and provided a safety net that was not there before,

• pensioners are purchasing more expensive and nutritious food [such as meat] for themselves and their dependents,

• further research in Lesotho showed that pensioners used their income to buy animals such as chickens and pigs to generate income and provide food. These animals serve as a form of security and saving to be sold in times of need. 

This case study from Bolivia also illustrates how pension income improves the diet of older people and, in some cases, the children they care for

Simon, aged 73, lives in Bolivia. The Bonosol is a universal fixed benefit of 1,800 Bolivianos [$248] paid annually to all Bolivians over the age of 65.

“I don’t get a contributory pension because I never worked in the cities, just here on the land. There is no pension for that, but I do get the Bonosol every year on 15 April, my birthday. I use it to buy noodles, rice and sugar. I share the food I buy with my son’s family. I’ve also bought animals, chickens and a donkey. I consider the Bonosol a blessing from God. I always spend it on food. Before, I had nothing. For my future, I want enough to eat. At my age, one doesn’t need much money, only food.”

Beyond the immediate household, pensions can also stimulate the local economy by encouraging income generating activities such as farming, and delivering cash into remote rural areas where it is normally scarce. In South Africa and Namibia, pension payment days attract traders and create markets.

Reducing poverty

At the Millennium Summit in 2000, 189 member states of the UN agreed the Millennium Development Goals, which they will try to reach by 2015. The first of these is the eradication of poverty and, specifically, halving the number of people who live on less than a dollar a day. Universal social pensions can help to realize this goal.

Anna Pearson, policy officer for social protection at HelpAge International, says: “Universal social pensions are a proven means to guarantee that older people and multigenerational households are able to afford the basic minimum diet they require, lifting them out of poverty and allowing them to plan ahead for a secure future.”

A copy of HelpAge International’s policy paper, Why social pensions are needed now, is available from website: www.helpage.org.

For further information contact HelpAge International, PO Box 32832, London N1 9ZN. Telephone: 020 7278 7778. Website: www.helpage.org.

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