Two billion women and girls worldwide lack access to any form of social protection, according to the UN Women report ‘World Survey on the Role of Women in Development’ launched in October 2024.
This has a huge impact on older women whose lives can be transformed by social protection policies and programmes like pensions and access to healthcare, providing stability and dignity, contributing to a fairer and more inclusive world.
What is social protection?
Social protection refers to a set of policies, programmes, and initiatives implemented by governments or other institutions to safeguard individuals and communities against various risks and vulnerabilities that can lead to poverty and deprivation.
Social protection at the heart of change
The UN report sheds urgent light on the need for social protection to better respond to the circumstances of women of all ages and become more ‘gender responsive’. It alsounveils the transformative potential of social protection. It emphasises how social protection can advance gender equality, build resilience, and drive societal progress.
For women, and particularly older women, access to social protection can mean the difference between a dignified life and a struggle for survival. Yet, the report shows alarming gaps across all the dimensions of social protectionthat disproportionately affect older women –from the coverage andadequacy, to the way social protection is delivered, and its financing.
Amplifying voices of older women
HelpAge International contributed to this flagship report by offering insights and research, including findings from our report Advancing Gender Equality through Social Protection in an Ageing World. Thisinvolvementhelped to ensurethatthe experiences of women and girls of all ages, including older women, were taken into consideration.
Our work helped highlight the barriers that older women face in accessing social protection. It also shows how creating systems that work for everyone requires an understanding of their needs and experiences at every stage of life.
Why social protection matters for women of all ages
Social protection systems—spanning pensions, access to healthcare and childcare support —hold the power to alleviate poverty and inequality. However, the reality is stark:
Gendered poverty persists – Women and men experience poverty differently due to gender-based inequalities. Women, especially in older age, often face higher rates of poverty because of factors like lower wages, care-giving responsibilities, and limited access to resources that accumulate in later life.
According to the report, in 2024, nearly 10% of women and girls live in extreme poverty (earning less than$2.15/day),translating into 22 million more women than men in desperate conditions.
Lifelong inequality worsens in older age – Inequalities that people, especially women, face throughout their lives become more severe as they grow older. Gendered pay gaps, unpaid care-giving, and informal work throughout their life mean older women are less likely to benefit from contributory pensions. There are also limitations of non-contributory pensions in terms of coverage and level of the benefits, as well as barriers associated with the delivery of social protection that older women face.These factors lead to inadequate income support and result in higher levels of poverty for older women.
What older women face
Older women’s lives are shaped by decades of structural inequality, particularly those who have juggled unpaid care-giving with informal work, limiting their opportunities to save for old age. As a result:
Only 29.1 per cent of women globally contribute to pensions during their working years, compared to 49.1 per cent of men.
44 per cent of older women globally lack sufficient pension income to cover basic needs.
34.2 per cent of older women depend on non-contributory pensions (as compared to 26.9 per cent of older men), which often provide only minimal income support.
The systemic barriers
Social protection systems often fail to consider the realities of women’s lives:
Care responsibilities: Women perform nearly three times as much unpaid care work as men, creating vulnerabilities that extend into older age.
Digital exclusion: Older women are at greater risk of being excluded by digitised delivery systems due to limited access to technologies and digital literacy.
Bias in implementation: Social norms and discriminatory practices can lead to inequitable implementation of social protection programmes.
Financing the gap
According to the UN report, in 2024 there was a $1.4 trillion gap in funding needed to set up universal social protection systems in low- and middle-income countries. This amount represents 3.3% of the total GDP in these countries.
Women, who already face lower coverage rates, bear the brunt of this shortfall.
Solutions that work
To transform the lives of women and girls, particularly older women, we need decisive action:
Universal non-contributory pensions (or universal social pensions): Expand access to ensure older women have basic income security.
Integrated policies: Align social protection with health, employment, and care policies to meet women’s diverse needs.
Care recognition: Acknowledge and support unpaid care-giving through care-sensitive social protection systems.
Inclusive digitalisation: Design digital systems that empower older women rather than exclude them.
Scaling up financing: Increase domestic and international investment in social protection.
Stronger accountability: Involve women’s organisations and rights groups in the design, implementation, and monitoring of social protection systems.
Improved data: Collect and analyse sex- and age-disaggregated data to inform better policy decisions.
The message is clear: social protection is not just essential to protect people from poverty, crisis, and shocks — it is a springboard for achieving gender equality, building resilience, and promoting empowerment at all stages of life.
Older women, many of whom have spent their lives nurturing families and communities, deserve systems that protect them in turn. By investing in gender-responsive and gender-transformative social protection, we can not only ensure dignity for older women but also unlock their potential to contribute to resilient, sustainable societies.
