The Impact of the Argentinean Pension System on Poverty and Income Inequality

This paper analyzes the impact of the reforms of the Argentinean Pension System (SIPA) on poverty and income distribution between 2003 and 2016. This exercise is firstly aimed to provide evidence about the efficiency of a universal pay-as-you-go system to secure seniors with a decent standard of living. Secondly, this analysis attempts to clarify the way the structure of households composed of seniors influence the conversion of pension benefits into social welfare. Thirdly, this research highlights some aspects of current developments of demographic ageing in Argentina in order to discuss prospective reforms to the SIPA. To assess these objectives, we draw on the Household Permanent Survey (EPH) microdata to calculate changes in relative poverty levels and estimate Gini and Theil decompositions of household per capita income.