Old age and poverty

Poverty linked to gender inequality is a serious obstacle for human development. Before the regulation of agricultural pensions in the 70s, being a woman and old in rural Spain maximised the risk of being poor.

In 2015, being a widow with a minimum pension in Spain (lower for the under 60s) also increased the risk of poverty and made it difficult to buy medicines, especially for chronic diseases.

At a global level, women still make up 70% of the thousand million people who live in extreme poverty and 60% of poor workers. The wage gap in favour of men varies between countries, oscillating around 20% and 40%, but has widened with the economic crisis.