The Privatization of Social Security and Women's Welfare

Gender Effects of the Chilean Reform

Bibliographic Data

ID18929285
AuthorsAlberto Arenas De Mesa (corresponding author), Verónica Monteemos (Pennsylvania State University)
Year1999
Volume34
Issue3
Pages7-37
Publication date1999-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLatin American Research Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0023-8791 • E-ISSN: 1542-4278
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0023879100039352
OpenAlexW4312717183
LanguageEN
Citations received28
References cited14

The study shows that the new privately managed pension system in Chile has increased gender inequalities. Women are worse off than they were under the old pay-as-you-go system of social security, in which the calculation of benefits for men and women did not differ and women could obtain pensions with fewer requirements than men. Currently, benefits are calculated according to individuals’ contributions and levels of risk. Such factors as women's longer life expectancy, earlier retirement age, lower rates of labor-force participation, lower salaries, and other disadvantages in the labor market are directly affecting their accumulation of funds in individual retirement accounts, leading to lower pensions, especially for poorer women. Lessons from the Chilean reform should encourage scholars, policy makers, and the general public to engage in debates that more adequately incorporate gender variables in designing and implementing policy changes

Birth rate · Demographic economics · Economics · Gender equality · Gender inequality · Inequality · Labour economics · Life expectancy · Market economy · Old Age Security · Pension · Pension system · Population · Research methodology · Social security · Sociology · Welfare · Demography · Finance · Gender Studies · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Retirement, Disability, and Employment · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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Open DOIOpen Access