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Sexual Coercion: Young Men's Experiences As Victims And Perpetrators, Deepika Ganju, William Finger, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, Vijaya Nidadavolu, K.G. Santhya, Iqbal Shah, Shyam Thapa, Ina Warriner Jan 2004

Sexual Coercion: Young Men's Experiences As Victims And Perpetrators, Deepika Ganju, William Finger, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, Vijaya Nidadavolu, K.G. Santhya, Iqbal Shah, Shyam Thapa, Ina Warriner

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Available evidence suggests that a considerable number of young people experience nonconsensual sex across the world, however research has mainly concentrated on the experiences of young girls and their perspectives of perpetrators of violence. Little is known about coercion among young males as victims or perpetrators. Case studies presented at an international consultative meeting in September 2003 in New Delhi, India, challenged the common assumption that only women are victims of violence, and shed light on the experiences of young males as victims of sexual coercion. These case studies also discussed the perspectives of young males as perpetrators of violence …


A World Apart: The Disadvantage And Social Isolation Of Married Adolescent Girls, Nicole Haberland, Erica Chong, Hillary J. Bracken Jan 2004

A World Apart: The Disadvantage And Social Isolation Of Married Adolescent Girls, Nicole Haberland, Erica Chong, Hillary J. Bracken

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This brief is based on a paper prepared for the WHO/UNFPA/Population Council Technical Consultation on Married Adolescents, held in Geneva, Switzerland, December 9–12, 2003. The consultation brought together experts from the United Nations, donors, and nongovernmental agencies to consider the evidence regarding married adolescent girls’ reproductive health, vulnerability to HIV infection, social and economic disadvantage, and rights. The relationships to major policy initiatives—including safe motherhood, HIV, adolescent sexual and reproductive health, and reproductive rights—were explored, and emerging findings from the still relatively rare programs that are directed at this population were discussed. Despite the program attention and funding that have …


Trends And Transitions In Children's Coresidence With Older Adults In Beijing Municipality, Zachary Zimmer, Xianghua Fang, Toshiko Kaneda, Zhe Tang, Julia Kwong Jan 2004

Trends And Transitions In Children's Coresidence With Older Adults In Beijing Municipality, Zachary Zimmer, Xianghua Fang, Toshiko Kaneda, Zhe Tang, Julia Kwong

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The reduction in family size in China and concurrent social and economic change are raising concerns that traditional sources of support may be eroding. This Population Council working paper paper examines a) whether rates of coresidence between older adults and their adult children in the Beijing municipality of China have been declining, and b) the determinants of coresidence and coresidence transitions. Results suggest that family support structures for the elderly, when they are facilitated through coresidence, remain basically intact, particularly for those who require the greatest amount of support. Further assessment is required to elucidate the effects of availability, need, …


Socioeconomic Disadvantage And Unsafe Sexual Behaviors Among Young Women And Men In South Africa, Kelly Hallman Jan 2004

Socioeconomic Disadvantage And Unsafe Sexual Behaviors Among Young Women And Men In South Africa, Kelly Hallman

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This study investigates how relative socioeconomic status influences the sexual behaviors of young women and men aged 14–24 years in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa—an environment characterized by high HIV prevalence and high rates of poverty and inequality. Relative economic disadvantage is found to significantly increase the likelihood of a variety of unsafe sexual behaviors and experiences. Poorer young people, especially females, also have significantly lower access to media sources for family planning information. Without sufficient attention in the design and placement of HIV prevention programs to the economic and social conditions in which individuals live, the potential effectiveness of the …


Ishraq: Safe Spaces To Learn, Play And Grow: Expansion Of Recreational Sports Program For Adolescent Rural Girls In Egypt, Nadia Zibani Jan 2004

Ishraq: Safe Spaces To Learn, Play And Grow: Expansion Of Recreational Sports Program For Adolescent Rural Girls In Egypt, Nadia Zibani

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Over the past three years, the Ishraq program in the villages of northern El-Minya, Egypt, grew from a novel idea into a vibrant reality. In the process, approximately 300 rural girls have participated in a life-transforming chance to learn, play, and grow into productive members of their local communities. Currently other villages—and soon other governorates—are joining the Ishraq network. Ishraq is a mixture of literacy, life-skills training, and—for girls who have been sheltered in domestic situations of poverty and isolation—a chance to play sports and games with other girls their age and develop a sense of self-worth and mastery; the …


Forced Sexual Relations Among Married Young Women In Developing Countries, Deepika Ganju, William Finger, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, Vijaya Nidadavolu, K.G. Santhya, Iqbal Shah, Shyam Thapa, Ina Warriner Jan 2004

Forced Sexual Relations Among Married Young Women In Developing Countries, Deepika Ganju, William Finger, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, Vijaya Nidadavolu, K.G. Santhya, Iqbal Shah, Shyam Thapa, Ina Warriner

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Recent research in developing countries suggests that a considerable number of young women may experience forced sex within marriage, but most women may be inhibited from reporting these experiences due to shame, fear of reprisal, or deep-rooted unequal gender norms. In September 2003, a global consultative meeting on nonconsensual sex among young people in developing countries was held in New Delhi, India. The meeting was organized by the Population Council in collaboration with World Health Organization/Department of Reproductive Health and Research, and Family Health International/YouthNet. Participants included researchers, legal analysts, representatives from community-based NGOs, policy-makers, and young people themselves. Papers …


The Experience Of Adolescence In Rural Amhara Region, Ethiopia, Annabel Erulkar, Tekle-Ab Mekbib, Negussie Simie, Tsehai Gulema Jan 2004

The Experience Of Adolescence In Rural Amhara Region, Ethiopia, Annabel Erulkar, Tekle-Ab Mekbib, Negussie Simie, Tsehai Gulema

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This study aims to broaden the understanding of young lives in rural Ethiopia, specifically, Amhara Region. It finds that over half of the adolescents in the sample had never been to school. The most common reason for boys and girls not attending school was poverty, followed by early marriage for girls, and too many work responsibilities for boys. It finds that over half of the adolescents interviewed were illiterate. The study offers suggestions to address the programmatic needs of rural youth as well as neglected subgroups of adolescents.


Does Dowry Improve Life For Brides? A Test Of The Bequest Theory Of Dowry In Rural Bangladesh, Luciana Suran, Sajeda Amin, Lopita Huq, Kobita Chowdury Jan 2004

Does Dowry Improve Life For Brides? A Test Of The Bequest Theory Of Dowry In Rural Bangladesh, Luciana Suran, Sajeda Amin, Lopita Huq, Kobita Chowdury

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In recent years, dowry levels in Bangladesh have risen to previously unforeseen levels—sometimes three or four times a family’s total assets. Some recent economic writings suggest that dowry functions as a bequest or pre-mortem inheritance, implying it persists because it is “good for the bride.” Using panel data from an adolescent study in rural Bangladesh, this Population Council working paper explores the association between dowry and the prevalence of domestic abuse to test the bequest theory of dowry. Contrary to the prediction of the bequest theory, married females who paid dowry at marriage have a higher likelihood of reporting domestic …


The Roles, Responsibilities, And Realities Of Married Adolescent Males And Adolescent Fathers: A Brief Literature Review, Gary Barker, Jorge Lyra, Benedito Medrado Jan 2004

The Roles, Responsibilities, And Realities Of Married Adolescent Males And Adolescent Fathers: A Brief Literature Review, Gary Barker, Jorge Lyra, Benedito Medrado

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

From the perspective of developing countries, we know relatively little about married adolescent males and adolescent fathers, and much of what we know is inferred from research with young women or comes from a few specific regions in the world. However, there has been a growing interest in the issue on the part of researchers, policy-makers, and program staff. This interest has coincided with increasing attention in general to men, with gender studies, and with sexual and reproductive health initiatives. Early marriage and early childbearing are much more prevalent among young women than young men, and the negative consequences are …


Les Implications Du Mariage Précoce Pour Les Politiques De Vih/Sida, Judith Bruce, Shelley Clark Jan 2004

Les Implications Du Mariage Précoce Pour Les Politiques De Vih/Sida, Judith Bruce, Shelley Clark

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Ce dossier est basé sur un document contextuel préparé pour la Consultation Technique OMS/ FNUAP/Population Council sur les Adolescentes Mariées, tenue à Genève en Suisse du 09 au 12 Décembre 2003 (le document final intitulé "Inclure les adolescentes mariées dans les politiques de santé reproductive des adolescents et de VIH/SIDA"). La Consultation a réuni des experts provenant des Nations Unies, des bailleurs de fonds et des agences non gouvernementales pour examiner les faits concernant la santé reproductive des adolescentes mariées, leur vulnérabilité face à l’infection du VIH, leurs inégalités sociales et économiques ainsi que leurs droits. Les rapports avec des …


Including Married Adolescents In Adolescent Reproductive Health And Hiv/Aids Policy, Judith Bruce, Shelley Clark Jan 2004

Including Married Adolescents In Adolescent Reproductive Health And Hiv/Aids Policy, Judith Bruce, Shelley Clark

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The majority of sexually active girls aged 15–19 in developing countries are married, and married adolescent girls tend to have higher rates of HIV infection than their sexually active, unmarried peers. Married adolescent girls represent a sizable fraction of adolescents at risk and experience some of the highest rates of HIV prevalence of any group. Nonetheless, married adolescents have been marginal in adolescent HIV/AIDS policies and programs and have not been the central subjects for programs aimed at adult married women. This paper offers a partial explanation for why married adolescents have so often been overlooked, the reasons why marriage …


Gender Differences In Time Use Among Adolescents In Developing Countries: Implications Of Rising School Enrollment Rates, Amanda Ritchie, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Monica J. Grant Jan 2004

Gender Differences In Time Use Among Adolescents In Developing Countries: Implications Of Rising School Enrollment Rates, Amanda Ritchie, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Monica J. Grant

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Researchers at the Population Council have been involved in the collection of data on time use from adolescents in India, Kenya, Pakistan, and South Africa. Three questions are addressed in this working paper: (1) How does time use change during the transition to adulthood? (2) Does gender role differentiation intensify during the transition? (3) Does school attendance attenuate gender differences? The data document differences in time use patterns between students and nonstudents. Although female adolescent students still work longer hours than male adolescent students, the gender division of labor that typically develops during adolescence is greatly attenuated among students when …


The Implications Of Early Marriage For Hiv/Aids Policy, Judith Bruce, Shelley Clark Jan 2004

The Implications Of Early Marriage For Hiv/Aids Policy, Judith Bruce, Shelley Clark

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This brief is based on a background paper prepared for the WHO/UNFPA/Population Council Technical Consultation on Married Adolescents, held in Geneva, Switzerland, December 9–12, 2003. The final paper is entitled “Including married adolescents in adolescent reproductive health and HIV/AIDS policy.” The consultation brought together experts from the United Nations, donors, and nongovernmental agencies to consider the evidence regarding married adolescent girls’ reproductive health, vulnerability to HIV infection, social and economic disadvantage, and rights. The relationships to major policy initiatives—including safe motherhood, HIV, adolescent sexual and reproductive health, and reproductive rights—were explored, and emerging findings from the still relatively rare programs …


Married Adolescents: An Overview, Nicole Haberland, Erica Chong, Hillary J. Bracken Jan 2004

Married Adolescents: An Overview, Nicole Haberland, Erica Chong, Hillary J. Bracken

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The nascent work reviewed in this compendium indicates that married girls experience significant social isolation and limited autonomy. Across the studies examined, on indicators of mobility, exposure to media, and social networks, married girls are consistently disadvantaged compared to their unmarried peers. Similarly, across studies, on most of the domains explored here (mobility, decision-making, control over economic resources, and possibly gender-based violence), married girls tend to be less empowered and more isolated than slightly older married females. There may also be health issues associated with marriage during adolescence. Married girls are frequently at a disadvantage in terms of reproductive health …


Married Adolescents: A Review Of Programmes, Auralice Graft, Nicole Haberland, Rachel E. Goldberg Jan 2004

Married Adolescents: A Review Of Programmes, Auralice Graft, Nicole Haberland, Rachel E. Goldberg

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Historically, major adolescent and reproductive health initiatives have failed to explicitly consider the needs of married adolescents. This paper provides insight into what is being done—or not being done—to support married adolescent girls and boys, how these populations’ needs are being conceptualized, and the extent to which social context is factored into program design. Some early work with adolescent mothers (married and unmarried) is considered. The degree to which selected adolescent programs have been able to reach married girls with their activities is briefly examined. A few basic parameters of potential interventions for married adolescents are presented, including an inventory …


The Adverse Health And Social Outcomes Of Sexual Coercion: Experiences Of Young Women In Developing Countries, Deepika Ganju, William Finger, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, Vijaya Nidadavolu, K.G. Santhya, Iqbal Shah, Shyam Thapa, Ina Warriner Jan 2004

The Adverse Health And Social Outcomes Of Sexual Coercion: Experiences Of Young Women In Developing Countries, Deepika Ganju, William Finger, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, Vijaya Nidadavolu, K.G. Santhya, Iqbal Shah, Shyam Thapa, Ina Warriner

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Although evidence from developing countries is limited, what is available suggests that significant numbers of young women have experienced coercive sex. Studies in diverse settings in Africa, Asia, and Latin America reveal that forced sexual initiation and experiences are not uncommon in all of these settings. Many young victims of abuse fear disclosure as they feel they may be blamed for provoking the incident or stigmatized for having experienced it, and suffer such incidents in silence. Presentations at a meeting held in New Delhi in September 2003 highlighted findings from recent studies that suggest an association between early experiences of …


Too Young To Be A Mother: A Description Of The Lives Of Married Adolescent Girls In Egypt, Omaima El-Gibaly, Susan M. Lee Jan 2004

Too Young To Be A Mother: A Description Of The Lives Of Married Adolescent Girls In Egypt, Omaima El-Gibaly, Susan M. Lee

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Improving the status and health of women is high on the agenda of the Ministry of Health and Population in Egypt. Investing in the lives of women who marry in their teens has long-term benefits for these girls and their children. Valid information is needed, however, to address these girls’ special needs. Adolescent health is currently one of the major concerns of the Ministry of Health and Population, as is delaying early marriage and addressing the reproductive and other health needs of married girls. The Ministry was a fieldwork partner with the Population Council, providing data collection from primary health …


Popular Perceptions Of Emerging Influences On Mortality And Longevity In Bangladesh And West Bengal, Sajeda Amin, Alaka Malwade Basu Jan 2004

Popular Perceptions Of Emerging Influences On Mortality And Longevity In Bangladesh And West Bengal, Sajeda Amin, Alaka Malwade Basu

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Although new environmental and pathological threats to human survival and longevity have been documented, relatively little is known about how these threats are perceived in the popular imagination. During fieldwork in rural Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, researching the changing costs of and motivations for reproduction, the authors included survey questions on respondents’ perceptions of changing mortality. Child-mortality levels were perceived to have fallen drastically in recent times, but for the middle-aged and the elderly, the past was seen as a better time in terms of health and survival. The decline in adult health is attributed to environmental deterioration and …


Population Aging And The Rising Cost Of Public Pensions, John Bongaarts Jan 2004

Population Aging And The Rising Cost Of Public Pensions, John Bongaarts

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Rapid population aging is raising concerns about the sustainability of public pension systems in high-income countries. The first part of this study identifies the four factors that determine trends in public pension expenditures: population aging, pension benefit levels, the mean age at retirement, and the labor force participation rate. The second part presents projections to 2050 of the impact of demographic trends on public pension expenditures in the absence of changes in pension benefits, labor force participation, and age at retirement. These projections demonstrate that current trends are unsustainable, because without reforms population aging will produce an unprecedented and harmful …


Healing Wounds, Instilling Hope: The Tanzanian Partnership Against Obstetric Fistula, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Erica Chong Jan 2004

Healing Wounds, Instilling Hope: The Tanzanian Partnership Against Obstetric Fistula, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Erica Chong

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This edition of Quality/Calidad/Qualité describes a partnership formed to combat obstetric fistula in Tanzania. The Bugando Medical Center, the Women’s Dignity Project, the Tanzania Midwives Association, and the government cooperated on an extensive program for surgical repair, prevention, and policy research and activities. Lessons learned: 1) Fistula programs need to address social as well as medical issues. 2) Most repairs are successful, making an enormous difference in women’s lives. 3) Relatively little funding is necessary to start up a fistula program. 4) Fistula programs are vehicles for broader conversations about gender and poverty.


Moyens De Subsistance Des Adolescentes. Questions Primordiales Et Outils Essentiels : Rapport D'Un Atelier, Carey Meyers Jan 2004

Moyens De Subsistance Des Adolescentes. Questions Primordiales Et Outils Essentiels : Rapport D'Un Atelier, Carey Meyers

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This report, co-published by the Population Council and the International Center for Research on Women, describes a workshop convened in Cairo in 1999 to learn more about the nature of both younger and older adolescents' work experience, differentiate the particular needs and potentials of adolescent girls, and identify programs and policies that might have promise for supporting them.


Linking Reproductive Health To Social Power: Community Health Workers In Belize And Pakistan, Susana Galdos, Lucella Campbell, Patricia Mohammed, Debbie Rogow, Saumya Ramarao, Ali M. Mir, Nicole Haberland Jan 2004

Linking Reproductive Health To Social Power: Community Health Workers In Belize And Pakistan, Susana Galdos, Lucella Campbell, Patricia Mohammed, Debbie Rogow, Saumya Ramarao, Ali M. Mir, Nicole Haberland

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This issue of Quality/Calidad/Qualité focuses on two traditional family planning programs that undertook projects to help women enlarge their zone of influence in both the private and public spheres. The first case study focuses on the Belize Family Life Association (BFLA), a nongovernmental organization in a small Caribbean country. The second case study recounts the experience of the Pakistani government, which has an enormous, but entrenched, target-oriented family planning program. Both programs began by recognizing that women’s lack of social power is a major obstacle to their being able to protect their own health. Both trained village workers to regard …


Adolescent Life In Low Income And Slum Areas Of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Annabel Erulkar, Tekle-Ab Mekbib, Negussie Simie, Tsehai Gulema Jan 2004

Adolescent Life In Low Income And Slum Areas Of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Annabel Erulkar, Tekle-Ab Mekbib, Negussie Simie, Tsehai Gulema

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Ethiopian Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture has long considered attention to the lives of Ethiopian adolescents as a priority intervention area for research and programs in the country. This study conducted with the Population Council gives critical insight into the lives of adolescent girls and boys in the low income and slum areas of Addis Ababa. Research and programs for young people tend to homogenize the adolescent population into one genderless mass, with little regard to age or social context. Greater segmentation of the adolescent population is needed in the design and content of programs, as well as …


Long-Range Trends In Adult Mortality: Models And Projection Methods, John Bongaarts Jan 2004

Long-Range Trends In Adult Mortality: Models And Projection Methods, John Bongaarts

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This Population Council working paper has two objectives: (1) to test a new version of the logistic model for the pattern of change over time in age-specific adult mortality rates, and (2) to develop a new method for projecting future trends in adult mortality. A test of the goodness-of-fit of the logistic model for the force of mortality indicates that its slope parameter is nearly constant over time. This finding suggests a variant of the model that is called the shifting logistic model. A new projection method based on the shifting mortality model is proposed and compared with the widely …


The Effect Of A Livelihoods Intervention In An Urban Slum In India: Do Vocational Counseling And Training Alter The Attitudes And Behavior Of Adolescent Girls?, Barbara Mensch, Monica J. Grant, Mary Philip Sebastian, Paul C. Hewett, Dale Huntington Jan 2004

The Effect Of A Livelihoods Intervention In An Urban Slum In India: Do Vocational Counseling And Training Alter The Attitudes And Behavior Of Adolescent Girls?, Barbara Mensch, Monica J. Grant, Mary Philip Sebastian, Paul C. Hewett, Dale Huntington

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This Population Council working paper examines whether an experimental intervention for girls aged 14–19 that provided reproductive health information, vocational counseling and training, and assistance with opening savings accounts in slum areas of Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, India had an effect on their attitudes and behaviors. Although the livelihoods program was acceptable to parents and feasible to implement, the project had only a minimal impact on the behavior and attitudes of adolescent girls in the experimental slums. The greatest changes between the baseline and the endline surveys were found in those outcomes that most closely reflected the content of the …


Urban Poverty And Health In Developing Countries: Household And Neighborhood Effects, Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett Jan 2004

Urban Poverty And Health In Developing Countries: Household And Neighborhood Effects, Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In the United States and other high-income countries, where most people live in cities, there is intense scholarly and program interest in the effects of household and neighborhood living standards on health. This paper investigates whether in these cities the health of women and young children is influenced by both household and neighborhood standards of living. To judge from our results, it appears that as a rule, poor urban households do not tend to live in uniformly poor communities; indeed, about one in ten of a poor household’s neighbors is relatively affluent, belonging to the upper quartile of the urban …


Growing Up In Pakistan: The Separate Experiences Of Males And Females, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Monica J. Grant Jan 2004

Growing Up In Pakistan: The Separate Experiences Of Males And Females, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Monica J. Grant

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This Population Council working paper examines gender differences in transitions to adulthood in Pakistan. The survey covers key aspects of adolescents’ lives, including the timing of several adult transitions and a detailed accounting of time use over the previous 24 hours. The results of the analysis confirm the fundamental importance of schooling to transitions to adulthood. Those without any schooling, which still includes 15 percent of young men and 46 percent of young women, assume the work burdens of adults prematurely and are deprived of the opportunity for learning in an institutional setting outside the family. Those who do attend …


Integrating Adolescent Livelihood Activities Within A Reproductive Health Programme For Urban Slum Dwellers In India, Mary Philip Sebastian, Monica J. Grant, Barbara Mensch Jan 2004

Integrating Adolescent Livelihood Activities Within A Reproductive Health Programme For Urban Slum Dwellers In India, Mary Philip Sebastian, Monica J. Grant, Barbara Mensch

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This project, whose collaborators included CARE, the Centre for Operations Research and Training, and the Population Council, tested the impact of economic skills training among girls in a slum in Allahabad, India. Recognizing the relative disadvantage of adolescent girls, the study aimed to build an evidence base for adolescent livelihoods programs. Participating girls and their parents welcomed the program, and the baseline survey clearly indicated the appropriateness of an intervention that addresses the capabilities and opportunities available to adolescent girls—including both vocational training and savings schemes. However, few girls turned their new skills into economic gain, in part because of …


Urban Poverty And Health In Developing Countries: Household And Neighborhood Effects [Arabic], Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett Jan 2004

Urban Poverty And Health In Developing Countries: Household And Neighborhood Effects [Arabic], Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In the United States and other high-income countries, where most people live in cities, there is intense scholarly and program interest in the effects of household and neighborhood living standards on health. Yet very few studies of developing-country cities have examined these issues. This paper investigates whether in these cities the health of women and young children is influenced by both household and neighborhood standards of living. Using data from the urban samples of 85 Demographic and Health Surveys, and modeling living standards using factor-analytic MIMIC methods, we find, first, that the neighborhoods of poor households are more heterogeneous than …


Population Aging And The Rising Cost Of Public Pensions [Arabic], John Bongaarts Jan 2004

Population Aging And The Rising Cost Of Public Pensions [Arabic], John Bongaarts

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Rapid population aging is raising concerns about the sustainability of public pension systems in high-income countries. The first part of this study identifies the four factors that determine trends in public pension expenditures: population aging, pension benefit levels, the mean age at retirement, and the labor force participation rate. The second part presents projections to 2050 of the impact of demographic trends on public pension expenditures in the absence of changes in pension benefits, labor force participation, and age at retirement. These projections demonstrate that current trends are unsustainable, because without reforms population aging will produce an unprecedented and harmful …