Latin America

Although people of younger ages tend to be better educated—and thus the future elderly population will be better educated—present elders grew up at a time when many were unable to attain even basic levels of literacy. This low education level among elders is more prevalent in some countries than in others, and more common for females than for males. Consider the Table 1 Percent of Population 60 and Over SOURCE: Annex II of World Population Prospects: The 1994 Revision. United Nations, 1995 (ST/ESA/SER.A/145) proportions of persons sixty-five years and older in 1990 in several Latin American countries who were reported to be literate (see Table 2).

Figures such as these help to demonstrate the regional diversity of Latin America, the glaring inequality within many Latin American countries, and the lack of resources available to present-day elders, especially female elders, when they were young. Consider for example, the contrast between Argentina and Bolivia again, or the contrast between males and females within Bolivia.