In the country, 85 percent of the elderly do not live on pensions or salaries that allow them to face old age, according to data from a study entitled “Stories of a Forgotten Population: Situation of Elderly Women (MAN) in El Salvador,” which was released here.

Written by the National Coalition for the Dignity of the Elderly (CODES) and the NGO Discarded, the document showed that MANs are barely mentioned in the country although they already account for nearly 58 percent of the population over 60 years of age.

Many of the statistics are the result of stories told by women between 60 and 90 years of age, who tell their stories, their problems, their fears, their dreams and their hopes.

Data from the 2022 Multipurpose Household Poll (EHOM) indicate that 57.7 percent of Salvadoran seniors are women and 42.3 percent are men. They will make up 60.4 percent by 2025, accentuating the crisis if authorities do not take measures.

Statistics indicate that 33.2 percent of MAMs are illiterate compared to 21.7 percent of men and 9.7 percent of the rest of the population.

In addition, one in four women from this age group is living in poverty, a figure that is even higher in rural areas, and after turning 80 years of age, only one in five women receives a pension, of which more than half are beneficiaries following the pension holder’s death.

The women who participate in the study, in addition to lack of health care and physical violence, reported feeling discriminated against in the workplace because they are not taken into account in the formal work environment.

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