Festschrift celebrating 25 years of PREALC. Includes a description of activities and statements by former directors and prominent persons associated with the programme.

Many countries in the developing world are facing a rapid acceleration in population ageing. To date, this problem has generated little interest either from academics or policy-makers. Studies which focus exclusively on social security are of little relevance for the majority of elderly in these regions, for whom the possibilities of saving or making pension contributions are remote. This book takes a more comprehensive approach, combining analysis of social security issues in all developing countries with micro-level case studies of poor urban elderly survival strategies in Buenos Aires.

The book analyzes the social consequences of recent development strategies in Latin America. The volume introduces readers to official strategies, private initiatives and individual responses to issues of welfare and poverty during the twentieth century. These issues are addressed from several disciplines. A substantial introduction is followed by a wide range of case-studies, including Pinochet's Chile, the Haiti of the Duvaliers and Nicaragua under the somocistas and sandinistas, as well as Brazil, Mexico, the Argentine, Cuba and Colombia.