Can non-contributory pensions decrease food vulnerability? The case of Mexico

Providing age-based non-contributory pensions to the elderly has become a common policy in many middle-income countries. The rationale behind these programs is to protect beneficiaries, who do not qualify for a contributory pension, from extreme poverty once they are too frail to earn a living. This paper analyzes whether one such program, Mexico’s 70 y Más , had any effect on the food vulnerability of the elderly. Using the age and locality size cutoffs for eligibility, we find negative and significant effects on food vulnerability for single elderly men, especially for those in the lower wealth quintiles. While the results for single elderly women are of the same sign, they are small in magnitude and not statistically significant. We also find negative and significant effects on the food vulnerability for the poorest elderly couples.