Latin America has been experiencing a progressive change in the demographic composition of its population, which is ageing rapidly. In Mexico, according to the projections of the National Population Council (CONAPO), in 2015, out of every ten Mexicans, almost three were under 15 years of age (27.6%) and only one was 60 years or older (10%). However, by the year 2050, this composition will be profoundly altered, since it is expected that only two out of ten Mexicans will be under 15 years of age (20.7%), a proportion almost identical to that of the elderly, who will represent 21.5% of the total population.[1]
This is a worrying phenomenon, not just because of the accelerated ageing process, but also because many older people experience difficulties satisfying their basic needs and are not being treated with dignity. Official data indicate that only 23% of women and 40% of men have access to a contributory pension. Furthermore, 26% of older adults receive neither a contributory pension nor social programmes support.
In response to this situation and to contribute to the fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including goals 10, “Reduce inequality within and between countries”, in 2019, the Mexican government reformed its public policy to extend social protection to the older population. The Pension for the Well-being of Older People programme, or Pensión para el Bienestar de las Personas Adultas Mayores, aims to contribute to the well-being of all older population in Mexico, through the granting of a non-contributory pension to people aged sixty-eight years or older, and indigenous peoples and Afro-Mexicans older than sixty-five years of age. In 2020, the right to an old age pension became a constitutional right, reinforcing the permanent and universal character of its granting, and the status as subjects of law of older population. This programme is the successor of the “Pension for Older People”, which was implemented in 2013 and was, in turn, the successor of the programme "70 and over", which started in 2007. In 2021, the amount of the Pension for the Well-being of Older People is MXN$ 1,350 (approximately US$ 68) monthly payable bimonthly.
To access the programme, the following criteria must be met: i) for Indigenous or Afro-Mexican older adults, be sixty-five years of age or older, reside in the Mexican Republic, and live in the municipalities or localities classified as indigenous or Afro-Mexican; ii) for other older adults, that are Mexican by birth or naturalization: be sixty-eight years or over and reside in the Mexican Republic. In addition, adults of sixty-five to sixty-seven years of age, who as of December 2018 were registered in the Register of Eligible People of the Older Person Pension Programme, will also access the non-contributory pension.
According to official data, as of March 2021, 8,110,293 people had received a pension, of which 825,738 are people residing in municipalities or towns classified as indigenous or Afro-Mexican. During the first trimester of 2021, 56% of recipients were women (4,512,465) and 44% men (3,597,828).
As a measure to counteract the negative socioeconomic outcome of the pandemic caused by the COVID-19, the Mexican government decided to make innovations to the payment scheme during 2020. This consisted in making advance payments equal to four months of the Pension for the Well Being of Older People. The first advance was issued in March, covering payments from March to June, and the second in July, covering payments between July and October. As of August 8th, 2020, 8,046,782 people had received the second advanced payment, which meant an expenditure of MXN$ 42 billion (US$ 2.1 billion).
Further reading:
- ECLAC, “Pension for the Well-being of Older People”. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Social Pensions Programmes Database website. Accessed from https://dds.cepal.org/bpsnc/programme?id=173 in April 2021.
- ECLAC, “Pension Programme for the Well Being of Older Persons (advance payment equivalent to four months)”, Social protection measures to confront COVID-19 Database. Accessed from https://dds.cepal.org/observatorio/socialcovid19/en/fichamedida.php?id=253 in May 2021.
- Secretaría de Bienestar (2021). “1er Informe Trimestral 2021, Programas de Subsidio del Ramo Administrativo”, 23 April 2021. Accessed from https://www.gob.mx/bienestar/documentos/1er-informe-trimestral-2021 in April 2021.
Footnote
- See Secretaría de Bienestar (2020), “ACUERDO por el que se emiten las Reglas de Operación del Programa Pensión para el Bienestar de las Personas Adultas Mayores, para el ejercicio fiscal 2021”, Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF), 22 December2020, p.1. [online] https://www.gob.mx/cms/uploads/attachment/file/602026/ROPS_PPBPAM_22_12_2020.pdf