Social Pensions and Intimate Partner Violence against Older Women

By Cristina Bellés-Obrero, Giulia La Mattina, Han Ye

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 con- trast, 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 pen- sion, which may indicate that they spend more time at home, leading to greater exposure to potentially violent partners.