Social Pensions and Intimate Partner Violence against Older Women

Hen Ya, Giulia La Mattina and Cristina Bellés Obrero

No 1491, Working Papers from Barcelona School of Economics

Abstract: The prevalence and determinants of intimate partner violence (IPV) among older women are understudied. This paper documents that the incidence of IPV remains high at old ages and provides the first evidence of the impact of access to income on IPV for older women. We leverage a Mexican reform that lowered the eligibility age for a non-contributory pension and a difference-in-differences approach. Women's eligibility for the pension increases their probability of being subjected to economic, psychological, and physical/sexual IPV. In contrast, we show that IPV does not increase when men become eligible. Looking at potential mechanisms, we find suggestive evidence that men use violence as a tool to control women's resources. Additionally, women reduce paid employment after becoming eligible for the pension, which may indicate that they spend more time at home, leading to greater exposure to potentially violent partners.

Keywords: Retirement; income; Non-contributory pension (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H55 I38 J12 J26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-05
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bge:wpaper:1491

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