Peru: Electoral pension promise
Peru: Electoral pension promise
HelpAge International
Juana Bautista, aged 74, receives 250 nuevos soles (about US$89) every two months under the Pension 65 programme, introduced as part of President Humala’s electoral promise to introduce a social pension in response to widespread support.
She says: “Now, I don’t have to worry so much about money. I know it’s not much but to me it’s a great help… Whenever I get sick I can buy medicine without asking my children.”
Pensions protect older people
Federico Arnillas, President of the Roundtable for Poverty Reduction (a joint government-civil society platform for tackling poverty issues), says: “Non-contributory [social] pensions should be understood as a mechanism to ensure the universal right to social security…
“They protect older people who, during their working lives, weren’t covered by state social security. Priority groups are the rural populations that have historically been neglected…”
Source: HelpAge International interviews, 2014
