Sending and receiving informal transfers in elderly people within the Mexican context

Abstract

Introduction: this article analyzes the behavior of informal transfers in elderly people in the Mexican context. The objective of this work was to investigate the sociodemographic characteristics that differentiate older adults who send and receive informal transfers. Method: the research is quantitative, the source of information was the National Survey on Aging in Mexico (ENASEM), published by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) in 2012. We chose to work with this year because the levels of attrition in the 2015 and 2018 surveys reach up to 30% error in some ages, generating results interpretation problems. Results: the data reveals that 46.4% of the population in Mexico aged 60 and over has received transfers in the last two years, although these are not every month or every certain period of time. Significant differences are observed between older people who send financial transfers and those who receive financial transfers. Conclusions: older adults who make transfers in the Mexican context are mainly men, under 70 years of age, have a maximum of two children, report having a good economic situation, do not receive government transfers, have savings and are pensioners. On the contrary, older adults who receive transfers are mainly women, who do not live with a partner, who have 3 children or more, whose economic situation is referred to as precarious, are not pensioners, are 70 years of age or older, and receive government transfer.