Assessing Heterogeneity in the Health Effects of Social Pensions Among the Poor Elderly: Evidence from Peru

Abstract

This paper exploits the discontinuity around a welfare index of eligibility to assess the heterogeneous health impacts of Peru's social pension program Pension 65, which focuses on elderly poor individuals. The heterogeneity is analysed in terms of the treatment exposure (short vs long run), the accessibility to health care infrastructure (near vs distant facilities), and gender. We find improvements in anaemia, mortality risk markers, cognitive functioning, mental health, and self-reported health. These positive effects are only modestly countered by some signs of an increased obesity risk among women, as well as an increase in self-reported chronic diseases. The program improves the quality of nutrition and health care access, and about half of the effects on the analysed outcomes persist in the longer run. Living in a district with closer access to facilities stands out as the most relevant characteristic enhancing the beneficial program effects.

Keywords: social pensions, Health, nutrition, Poverty, Ageing