POVERTY IN THE ECE REGION: OLDER PERSONS AT RISK?
9-15 November 1996
5 November 1996
WORKSHOP ON SOCIAL PROTECTION, POVERTY,
AND OLDER PERSONS AT RISK
Co-organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE)
and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
6-7 November 1996
Room XXI, Palais des Nations
Geneva, Switzerland
Have improvements in pension policies and living arrangements substantially eliminated
poverty among older persons in the ECE region, or is poverty among older persons not only a
persistent problem but also increasing as a result of new social and economic forces? If
poverty is still a problem, which groups within the older population are particularly at risk?
How reliable are national data on poverty? Are poverty data in one country comparable to that
of other countries? Are older persons the real losers in the current transition in central and
eastern European countries from centrally planned economies to market economies?
These and other questions will be discussed by leading researchers, policy makers and
practitioners during a two-day workshop on social protection, poverty, and older persons at
risk. This workshop is being organized within the framework of the activities marking 1996 as
the International Year of Eradication of Poverty. It also is an important element of the
preparation for the 1999 International Year of Older Persons.
The Workshop will provide information on the latest methodologies for measuring
poverty and how to render them comparable in the European region. It will look at specific
groups within the older population which are generally regarded to be at risk. Examples of
these groups are: single older women and the very old (those over 80). According to
1993 data provided by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the co-organizer
of the event, only 13 per cent of all people aged 65 and over in the United States are poor.
Of that group, however, 71 per cent were women. Among older women, elderly black and
Hispanic women and those living alone are especially vulnerable to living in poverty, e.g. more
than one fourth of the older women living alone were poor, and another 14 per cent were close
to poverty. The situation among older women in central and eastern Europe is particularly
grave, both as a result of the difficulties caused by the transition that the countries of the
region are currently undergoing, and because of population imbalances resulting from a stormy
demographic past: in Russia, for example, women outnumber men in the ages over 70 years
by 3.5 to 1; over 70 per cent of these women are widows that have experienced low fertility
and high childlessness, so a large proportion of them cannot rely on an immediate family for
old age support.
Failing health or one of the chronic diseases associated with ageing may be another
factor which determines whether older persons are likely to become poor and to need
assistance from the state. The questions are: What are the correlations between failing health
and economic security? How will chronically ill older persons be cared for? Can the onset of
disability be prevented or delayed, and how can older disabled persons be enabled to lead their
lives as fully participating citizens?
One of the principal exchanges among the international experts will focus on ways to
create an enabling environment for the improvement of the well-being of older persons. Social
insurance and other income support policies, which greatly contribute to the economic security
of older persons, are increasingly being scrutinized and reformed in all the sub-regions of the
ECE, North America, western Europe, central and eastern Europe, to find ways to keep these
systems financially sound in spite of the growing numbers of older persons. Specific country
examples, with an emphasis on immediate actions to be taken, will be discussed in the
workshop.
For any further information please contact:
Mr. Nikolai Botev
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE)
Palais des Nations, Office C.403
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: +(4122) 917 1324
Fax: +(4122) 917 0101
Annex
WORKSHOP ON SOCIAL PROTECTION, POVERTY,
AND OLDER PERSONS AT RISK
6-7 November 1996
Geneva, Switzerland
Provisional Agenda
Wednesday, 6 November 1996
Morning Session
REGISTRATION 9:00-10:00
OPENING 10:00-10:30
TOPIC 1 - Poverty in Old Age: Conceptual Issues 10:30-12:00
Moderator: M. Macura (ECE)
Presentation: R. Hauser (Germany)
Panelists: A. Klinger (Hungary), R. Leu (Switzerland), R. Suzman (USA),
A. Volkov (Russia)
General deliberation on the topic
The conceptual issues underlying the incidence of poverty in old age will be discussed.
Specific topics to be addressed will include, inter alia, poverty measurement and mapping,
safety instruments available to policy makers, expanding the social protection for people at
risk, limitations of poverty data and problems with their international comparability.
Afternoon Session
TOPIC 2 - The Feminization of Poverty 14:00-15:30
Moderator: J. Zhang (ILO)
Presentation: J. Gierveld (The Netherlands)
Panelists: A. Stuckelberger (Switzerland), N. Arbaciauskiene (Lithuania)
General deliberation on the topic
Issues to be considered will include among others: the social context of gender inequalities
and the disparity in economic power-sharing; anti-poverty programmes and instruments
specifically targeted towards older women.
TOPIC 3 - Other Groups at Risk: Very old, disabled, etc. 16:00-17:45
Moderator: A. Kalache (WHO)
Presentation: S. Greengross (United Kingdom)
Panelists: K. Katus (Estonia), C. Tudose (Romania)
General deliberation on the topic
Issues to be considered will include, inter alia, anti-poverty programmes and instruments
specifically targeted towards the very old, older people with disabilities, and other groups at
risk; eliminating the social exclusion of the disabled, etc.
RECEPTION SPONSORED BY AARP 18:00-20:00
Thursday, 7 November 1996
Morning Session
TOPIC 4 - The Path to Creating an Enabling Environment 9:30-11:00
for an Improved Well-Being of the Older People
Moderator: Ms. E. Mullen
Presentation: K. Kinsella (USA)
Panelists: P. Barrett (ILO), P. Hicks (OECD), H. Gavrila (Romania), J. Kraus
(Czech Republic)
Various forms of safety programmes will be discussed. Issues related to the instruments
used in such programmes and their duration and coverage (e.g. how much to spend and
how to finance programmes; how to target assistance to the poor; how to select the most
appropriate delivery mechanism; and how to avoid adverse effects on incentives for labour
supply and private savings and transfers) will also be considered.
CONCLUSIONS AND CLOSING 11:30-13:00