[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"question:23:en-US":3},{"metadata":4,"sys":15,"fields":35},{"tags":5,"concepts":14},[6,11],{"sys":7},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":10},"Link","Tag","global",{"sys":12},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":13},"poverty",[],{"space":16,"id":20,"type":21,"createdAt":22,"updatedAt":23,"environment":24,"publishedVersion":28,"revision":29,"contentType":30,"locale":34},{"sys":17},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"Space","ghhpjogyw4x7","bed5ce52f8fdfc07054fbb71adb44e77","Entry","2021-11-11T07:06:24.013Z","2024-01-22T13:05:12.003Z",{"sys":25},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},"master","Environment",54,15,{"sys":31},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":33},"ContentType","question","en-US",{"globalId":36,"answers":37,"answersAsImages":58,"wrongPercentage":94,"name":95,"questionText":96,"statistics":97,"veryWrongStatistics":99,"correctSentence":101,"youWereWrong":102,"youWereRight":103,"dataSourceShortText":104,"dataSourceLinkLongText":105,"extendedAnswerText":106,"headingVeryWrong":107,"youWereVeryWrong":108,"headingWrong":107},"23",[38,60,77],{"metadata":39,"sys":42,"fields":55},{"tags":40,"concepts":41},[],[],{"space":43,"id":45,"type":21,"createdAt":46,"updatedAt":47,"environment":48,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":52,"locale":34},{"sys":44},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"9459f4553489c45dc4024b064c8f7ca7","2021-11-11T06:51:19.717Z","2024-01-22T13:05:12.053Z",{"sys":49},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},17,9,{"sys":53},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},"answer",{"globalId":56,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":59},"23-a1",true,false,"14%",{"metadata":61,"sys":64,"fields":74},{"tags":62,"concepts":63},[],[],{"space":65,"id":67,"type":21,"createdAt":68,"updatedAt":69,"environment":70,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":72,"locale":34},{"sys":66},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"0f55617d0eb9a9493087edab673d921e","2021-11-11T06:51:21.183Z","2024-01-22T13:05:12.095Z",{"sys":71},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":73},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":75,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":76},"23-a2","29%",{"metadata":78,"sys":81,"fields":91},{"tags":79,"concepts":80},[],[],{"space":82,"id":84,"type":21,"createdAt":85,"updatedAt":86,"environment":87,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":89,"locale":34},{"sys":83},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"cf953224b1290954d3c69d0e7545e81e","2021-11-11T06:51:22.777Z","2024-01-22T13:05:12.140Z",{"sys":88},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":90},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":92,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":93},"23-a3","44%",80,"On average, how many of those aged 65 or older liv","Of all people aged 65 or older in high-income countries, how many live below the poverty line?",[98],"uk 0.80",[100],"uk 0.43","14% of people in high-income countries aged over 65 live below the national poverty level.","You thought one third of seniors live in poverty in rich countries. If that was true, it would be very costly to help them all. But that isn’t the case!","They overestimate poverty among the old, so they probably think it’s too costly to help them all.","Source: OECD","The data comes from the OECD and it defines poverty in this case as an income below half the national median wage. This income is spread across the number of people living in a household, so it reflects poverty in a household rather than an individual (they are the same if a person lives in a single-person household, of course). \n\nThere is a huge range across the data and very different circumstances in some countries, which is explained in more detail by the OECD[2]. Three independent experts we contacted agree that despite the differences between countries, they recognize the average we use as being correct. You can see our calculations to see how we came to the figure we use[1]. \n\n[1]  [Gapminder calculations](https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.google.com\u002Fspreadsheets\u002Fd\u002F11Za8yLm6RgPvcFLCJv1HynmFyJdOA58pKlnntrEJzkk\u002Fedit#gid=0)  \n[2]  [OECD Pensions at a Glance 2019](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.oecd-ilibrary.org\u002Fdocserver\u002Fb6d3dcfc-en.pdf?expires=1604047891&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=57B07CBF5DC9544E2EAEE9EE4685F4E3 )(page 186)  \n[3]  [Congressional Research Service - Poverty Among Americans Aged 65 and Older](https:\u002F\u002Ffas.org\u002Fsgp\u002Fcrs\u002Fmisc\u002FR45791.pdf)  \n[4]  [Wikipedia - Median income](https:\u002F\u002Fen.wikipedia.org\u002Fwiki\u002FMedian_income)\n","When people overestimate how many are in need of help, they may believe the problem is too big to solve. \n\n### Why is it a problem that people are wrong about this? \nPeople have big misconceptions about the share of over 65s in high-income countries and also about the share living in poverty. If they think their country is sliding towards an older, poorer population they could lose hope about both now and the future. It also means they haven’t noticed that it is the younger generation (aged 18-25) who are more likely to be in poverty today.\n\n### Why are people wrong about this?\nWe hear a lot about an ageing population in high-income countries. It is true that populations are ageing, but people get the proportions completely wrong. The more media coverage something gets, the bigger the problem people think it is. It is completely logical. \n\n### Can I trust this data?\nYes, you can. Data from high-income countries is typically robust and reliable. The surveys have been carried out for many years and three independent experts we contacted didn’t identify any issues with either the data or the methods of collection.\n\n### Are old people the poorest age group in rich countries?\nOn average, there are higher levels of poverty in the older age group than the general population, BUT in high-income countries during recent years, the poverty among young people aged 18-25 has increased more than among the old.\n\n### What are the differences across countries?\nThere is a big difference between countries. The poverty rate for seniors ranges from 3% in Iceland to more than 40% in South Korea. Meanwhile, in the US there is no universal health coverage, so paying for treatments also raises the poverty rate. The [OECD](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.oecd-ilibrary.org\u002Fdocserver\u002Fb6d3dcfc-en.pdf?expires=1604047891&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=57B07CBF5DC9544E2EAEE9EE4685F4E3) has US pensioner poverty at over 20%, whereas the [US](https:\u002F\u002Ffas.org\u002Fsgp\u002Fcrs\u002Fmisc\u002FR45791.pdf) has it at 9%, or 14% when factoring in healthcare costs.\n\n### What is a “national poverty line”?\nNational poverty lines are different in each country, and in rich countries they are often based on the income of the total population and used as a criteria for eligibility for social welfare programs. Normally they are around half the median wage in their country. Median wage is the income of the person in the middle of the income distribution.\nPoverty in these rich countries is not the same as the extreme poverty in very poor countries, where it means lack of access to things like food, water, electricity and healthcare.\n\n### What is included when counting income?\nSome old people may have assets like a mortgage-free home which are not included in their income, but make a difference to how much money they have to spend each month.\n","Poor grandma","You thought almost half of seniors live in poverty in rich countries. If that was true, it would be very costly to help them all. But that isn’t the case!"]