Abstract
The high level of social protection for older people in Brazil is maintained through a combination of various schemes (contributory, semi-contributory, and noncontributory), with robust financing by the state. Nine out of every ten older people in Brazil receive some social security benefit. The replacement rate is high for low-income workers. As a result, older people are an underrepresented group among the poorest population. However, this level of social protection implies very high costs. Brazil is still a demographically young country and only countries with much older populations have comparable expenditure levels. This situation will become more complex due to the rapid ageing process on the horizon: It is expected it will take only 24 years for the country’s older population (aged 65 or older) to jump from 10% of the total population to 20%, less than half the time it will take for OECD countries to complete the same transition (53 years). To face this issue, the country has carried out three pension reforms over the last 25 years and will probably have to enact further reforms in the coming decades. The challenge consists in combining high levels of social protection to older people with a financially sustainable system.
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Paiva, L.H., Ansiliero, G. (2022). The Brazilian Old-Age Social Protection System. In: Handbook of Aging, Health and Public Policy. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1914-4_18-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1914-4_18-1
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