In many countries around the world, the percentage of the population older than 65 is growing because of reduced birth rates and mortality rates and technological advances in health care that have increased life expectancy. Because the elderly tend to be poorer than younger population groups—in part because they are less able to work and are more likely to suffer from chronic diseases—governments and policymakers are becoming increasingly concerned about providing for growing populations of older citizens now and in the future.

In Mexico, more than 65 percent of the population is of working age, including the largest...

As noted, the noncontributory pension program in Yucatan has been implemented in three phases and in 37 localities in the state of Yucatan, Mexico, over a period of four years (see Table 1.1 in Chapter One). The program was introduced first in rural and then in urban areas. For evaluation purposes, a control group was selected that did not receive benefits but was surveyed and monitored for a rigorous evaluation of program effects.

The first phase of the noncontributory pension program, Reconocer, commenced in September 2007, with the goal of designing and testing the program. Each month, 2,681 beneficiaries receive...

This chapter describes the design and implementation of the first evaluation of the noncontributory pension program that began during phase III, when the pension program expanded into localities with more than 20,000 inhabitants. The evaluation program is called Escuchar. The logo in Figure 3.1 was developed for use on the evaluation materials.

We describe the evaluation in the order in which activities occurred (see Table 3.1). This document describes implementation of the first evaluation, in Valladolid. A separate document (Aguila, Borges, et al., forthcoming) describes implementation of the second and third evaluations, in Merida. We will present findings from both...

The noncontributory pension program described in this document has been designed and implemented not only to improve the well-being of its participants but also to provide the data and information necessary to judge its effectiveness, tailor future programs accordingly, contribute to the body of research in relevant topic areas, and inform public policy.

Program features include the following:

Yucatan, RAND, and other team members working together to contribute essential expertise for a successful program and evaluation. Without question, the attention and interest from the government to the elderly poor during 4.5 years of working with RAND and the coordination between...