Community Social Infrastructure
As is true across the region, in Costa Rica, family typically provides the primary social infrastructure for older adults, as multiple generations traditionally live together. In 2017, 85 percent of older adults in Costa Rica age 65 or older lived in households with two or more people, with 15 percent of those families consisting of five or more. However, while the prevalence of multigenerational family units has been the norm, that structure is changing. The INEC indicates that for 2017 approximately 15 percent of adults age 65 or over (77,731 adults) live alone, and of those, 61 percent are women.
The number of older adults living alone is also increasing. As they live longer, healthier lives, with higher levels of income, an increasing number of older adults are living independently of their children, according to local demographer Luis Rosero-Bixby. Health factors, economic considerations, and social changes are facilitating a cultural shift in Costa Rica, resulting in increasing numbers of adult children living separately from their parents and older adults living alone. These societal shifts require a greater attention to—and investment in—an ecosystem of support services enabling older adults to safely maintain their independence and a comfortable quality of life as they age.
Between 2011 and 2017, the number of adults age 65 and older who lived alone increased 36 percent by 2017, while the number of those age 60 and over increased 46 percent.
“Red Cuido”
While the non-governmental organization, The Costa Rican Gerontological Association (AGECO), addresses long-term social needs, the National Council for Older Adults (CONAPAM) is focused on acute needs through its Red Cuido, or Care Network, established as part of the Chinchilla Miranda government’s plan 2010-2014 to provide urgently needed social support for older adults identified by social services or hospitals as being homeless or in other exceptionally vulnerable circumstances. Red Cuido established goals of providing daily recreational activities, community health and wellness programs, housing for those in extreme poverty, and an additional pension for the extremely poor population that otherwise would not receive coverage from the income-based pension plan. It provides services through a network of community homes, groups of older adults, daycare centers, and churches all working in coordination with municipalities and the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS). To meet the growing need for these services, and to realize the goals laid out in the National Policy of Aging 2011-2021, the government increased the program’s funding in 2015 and augmented it with social development funds and taxes on liquor, beer, and cigarettes. In 2016, the Red Cuido program served more than 15,000 adults.