Millennium Development Goal 3: Promote gender equity and empower women

In developing countries, to be able to retire from work is a luxury few older women can afford. A lifetime of poverty makes it hard to save and accumulate assets. This means that many older women face chronic poverty in old age.

The majority of women do not receive a pension. As a result they have little choice but to continue working, often for long hours and low pay in the informal sector.   

But where social (non-contributory) pensions do exist – as in Bolivia, Lesotho, Nepal and South Africa – they can make a tremendous difference to the lives of older women, their families and communities.

Why social pensions are needed

Governments and international bodies increasingly see the importance of universal non-contributory pensions as a core element of national social protection programmes. Lesotho introduced a universal social pension in 2004 and Chile plans to introduce one later this year.  

Public pensions which do not require minimum contributions are good for women in low income countries, and are an essential contribution towards achieving Millennium Development Goal 3.

These pensions mean older women can eat, get medical attention and buy water, they can even give them the means to start up a business and generate an income. They can have knock-on effects, such as stimulating cash economies and increasing grandchildren's chances of getting an education.

The assignment

This feature would examine the impact on women of establishing, or extending, non-contributory pension programmes in all developing countries.

Start your research by visiting:

Internal links

Research and policy: Social protection

Research and policy: Pension Watch

Resources

Ageways 70: Social pensions

Briefing: Why social pensions are needed now

Age and security: How social pensions can deliver effective aid to poor older people and their families

External links

UN press kit: Older women in need of help

Eldis resources on pensions

Institute for Development Policy and Management 

Economic Policy Research Insitute

DFID briefing on social transfers

Old-age poverty in Central Asia

And visit the case studies listed on the right

More information

For further details about the competition and an online entry form, visit the Guardian website.

For more details about this assignment contact press@helpage.org