Abstract
This paper discusses the economic reforms initiated by Cuban President Raúl Castro in 2008 and its effect on the country’s fast-growing, vulnerable population of older persons 60+ years of age. Cubans are living longer and the country has a very low birthrate. These two factors combined have reduced the proportion of the population in the work force. This adversely affects the economy. Population aging is a major reason why the government has introduced structural reforms and reduced social spending, which have weakened the welfare state on which older persons depend. Many older persons have become critical of the reforms over time. Policy makers need to address the impact the reforms are having on older Cubans and consider them as active participants in economic reform. Data for this paper come from qualitative, case study research carried out in Havana between the years 2008–15 and from a review of the literature on aging and economic reforms in Cuba. Two case studies illustrate the impact of the economic reforms on older persons.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abendroth, M. (2009). Rebel literacy: Cuba’s national literacy campaign and critical global citizenship. Duluth: Litwin Books.
Ahmed, A. (2015). Optimism in Cuba, except among the young. The New York Times. Retrieved August 9, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/07/world/americas/cuban-youth-see-new-us-embassy-but-same-old-drab-life.html?_r=0
Amor, E. (2014). 467.000 trabajadores por cuenta propia y 3.500 millones de dólares en remesas. Misceláneas de Cuba. Retrieved July 20, 2014, from http://www.miscelaneasdecuba.net/web/Article/Index/53b11a213a682e16243a7429
Anuario Estadístico Nacional (2014). Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información (ONE). .Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://www.one.cu/
Armstrong, F. (2016). U.S.-Cuba Normalization: Entering a new, challenging phase. Cuba Journal. Retrieved May 21, 2016, from http://cubajournal.co/u-s-cuba-normalization-entering-a-new-challenging-phase/
Batista, C. (2015). Cuba’s revolution generation: few regrets. Global Post. Retrieved February 24, 2015, from http://news.yahoo.com/cubas-revolution-generation-few-regrets-151613680.html
Baxter, P., & Jack, S. (2008). Qualitative case study methodology: study design and implementation for novice researchers. The Qualitative Report, 13(4), 544–559.
Bendixen, & Amandi International (2015). National survey of Cubans living in Cuba. Bendixen and Amandi International. Retrieved July 18, 2015, from http://bendixenandamandi.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Cuba_Final_4.7.15.pdf
Brundenius, C., & Torres, R. T. (Eds.) (2014). No more free lunch: reflection on the Cuban economic reform process and challenges for transformation. New York: Springer.
Burnett, V. (2013, July 23). Harsh self-assessment as Cuba looks within. Havana Journal. Retrieved July 24, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/24/world/americas/harsh-self-assessment-as-cuba-looks-within.html
Byrne, D. (2009). Case-based methods: why we need them; what they are; how to do them. In D. Byrne & C. C. Ragin (Eds.), The sage handbook of case-based methods (pp. 1–10). London: Sage Publications.
Canler, E. (2013). Pesos, poverty, and perversions: What’s wrong with Cuba’s money and how to fix it? In E. H. Hernández-Catá (Ed.), The Cuban economy under a magnifying glass: essays in honor of Oscar Espinosa Chepe (pp. 63–75). North Charleston: Create Space Independent Publishing Platform.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (2015). The world factbook. Retrieved May 21, 2016, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2054.html
Centro de Estudios Demográficos (CEDEM) (2013). Propuesta de un enfoque estratégico para atender el envejecimiento poblacional. La Habana: Editorial CEDEM/UH.
Cole, K. (2002). The process of socialist development. Latin American Perspectives, 29(3), 18–39.
Congreso del Partido Comunista de Cuba (VI) (2011). Lineamientos de la política económica y social del partido y la revolución. Retrieved January 3, 2015, from http://www.actaf.co.cu/index.php?option=com_mtree&task=att_download&link_id=219&cf_id=24
Cornwall, A., & Rachel Jewkes, R. (1995). What is participatory research? Social Science & Medicine, 70(5), 794.
Costello, T. (2015). Council on Hemispheric Affairs. Cuba’s dire need for foreign investment: What it means to its developing economy. Retrieved December 3, 2015, from file:///H:/CUBA.ECONOMY.2015/2015.12.03.Cuba%E2%80%99 s%20Dire%20Need%20for%20Foreign%20Investment%20%20What%20it%20means%20to%20its%20Developing%20Economy%20_%20COHA.htm
Cuba Journal (2016, May 25). Cuba legalizes private companies, foreshadowing currency unification. Cuba Journal. Retrieved may 26, 2016, from http://cubajournal.co/cuba-legalizes-private-companies-foreshadowing-currency-unification/
De La Fuente, A. (2001). A nation for all: race, inequality, and politics in twentieth-century Cuba. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Díaz Moreno, R.M. (2015, May 28). Do Cuba’s youth support the revolution? Havana Times. Retrieved July 27, 2015, from file:///K:/CUBA.YOUTH/2015.05.30.Do%20Cuba%E2%80%99 s%20Youth%20Support%20the%20Revolution%20%20-%20Havana%20Times.org.htm
Díaz-Briquets, S. (2015). Major problems, few solutions: Cuba’s demographic outlook. In De La Fuente, A., & Guerra, L. (Eds.), Cuban Studies 43, 3–18.
Díaz Torres, I. (2013, August 6). The mean salary of Cubans. Havana Times. Retrieved August 5, 2014, from http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=97506
Espina Prieto, M. (2004). Social effects of economic adjustment: equality, inequality and trends toward greater complexity in Cuban society. In J. I. Domínguez, O. E. Omar-Everleny Pérez Villanueva, & L. Barbería (Eds.), The Cuban economy at the start of the twenty-first century (pp. 209–244). Cambridge: Harvard University.
Fariñas Acosta, L. (2015, December 28). El panorama demográfico exige acciones conjuntas. Granma. Retrieved December 28, 2915, from http://www.granma.cu/cuba/2015-12-28/el-panorama-demografico-exige-acciones-conjuntas-28-12-2015-00-12-20
Fieser, R. (2012, March 27). Church in Cuba helps elderly make ends meet. Catholic News Agency. Retrieved November 4, 2915, from http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/church-in-cuba-helps-elderly-make-ends-meet/
Font, M., & Jancsics, D. (2015, October). From planning to market: a framework for Cuba. Bulletin of Latin American Research. doi:10.1111/blar.12409.
García, E. (2007, October 20). Entrevista a Rafael Hernández. Retrieved October 31 2007, from www.cuadernomayor.blogspot.com/2007/10/entrevista-rafael-hernndez.html
Garfield, R. (1997). The impact of the economic crisis and the US embargo on health in Cuba. American Journal of Public Health, 87(1), 15–20.
González, I. (October 20, 2012). Cuban families grapple with migration reform. Inter Press Service News Agency. Retrieved July 19, 2014, from http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/10/cuban-families-grapple-with-migration-reform/
Gott, R. (2004). Cuba: a new history. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Laverty, C. (2011). Cuba’s new resolve: Economic reform and its implications for U.S. policy. Center for Democracy in the Americas. Retrieved August 8, 2015, from http://democracyinamericas.org/pdfs/CDA_Cubas_New_Resolve.pdf
Leogrande, W. M. (2015, December 4). A new crisis of Cuban migration. The New York Times. Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/05/opinion/international/a-new-crisis-of-cuban-migration.html
Martínez-Hernández, L. (2014, Diciembre 26). Granma. Nuevas medidas para la atención a los adultos mayores. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://www.granma.cu/cuba/2014-12-30/nuevas-medidas-para-la-atencion-a-los-adultos-mayores
Martínez-Saenz, M. (2004). Che Guevara’s new man: embodying a communitarian attitude. Latin American Perspectives, 31(15), 15–30.
Mason, S., Strug, D., & Beder, J. (Eds.) (2010). Community health care in Cuba. Chicago: Lyceum Press.
Mesa-Lago, C., & Pérez-López, J. (2013). Cuba under Raúl Castro: assessing the reforms. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Milanes Despaigne, J. (2015, October 23). A peso for a tart: On Cuba’s elderly. Havana Times. Retrieved October 25, 2015, from http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=114588
Miles, B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Minkler, M. (2005). Community-based research partnerships: challenges and opportunities. Journal of Urban Health, 82(Supplement 2), ii3–ii12.
Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información (ONE). (2011). Resultados de la encuesta nacional de envejecimiento poblacional. Retrieved February 3, 2014, from http://www.one.cu/publicaciones/cepde/enep%202010/ENEP10.pdf
Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información (ONE). (2012a). Proyecciones de la población Cubana: 2010–20130. Retrieved May 20, 2016, from http://www.one.cu/publicaciones/cepde/proyeccion_2010_2030/Proyeciones%20de%20Poblacion%202010_2030.pdf
Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información (ONE). (2012b). Resultados de la encuesta nacional de envejecimiento poblacional. Retrieved February 3, 2014, from http://www.one.cu/publicaciones/cepde/enep%202010/ENEP10.pdf
Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información (ONE). (2014, Octubre). Centro de Estudios de Población y Desarrollo. Estudio sobre envejecimiento poblacional a partir del censo de población y viviendas. Retrieved January 5, 2015, from http://www.one.cu/publicaciones/cepde/cpv2012/estudioenvejecimientopoblacionalcenso2012/Estudio%20sobre%20envejecimiento%20poblacional%20Censo%202012.pdf
Orta Rivera, Y. (2015, February 3). Desafíos que plantea la estructura demográfica en Cuba (I parte). Mesa Redonda. Retrieved August 3, 2015, from http://mesaredonda.cubadebate.cu/mesa-redonda/2015/02/03/desafios-que-plantea-la-estructura-demografica-en-cuba-i-parte/
Parthasarathy, B. (2008). The ethnographic case study approach: The global impact study. Technology and Social Change Group. Retrieved May 20, 2016, from http://www.globalimpactstudy.org/2008/07/the-ethnographic-case-study-approach/
Pérez, D., Lefèvre, P., Sánchez, L., Boelaert, M., Kourí, G., & Van der Stuyft, P. (2007). Community participation in Aedes aegypti control: a sociological perspective on five years of research in the health area “26 de Julio” Havana, Cuba. Tropical Medicine and International Health, 12, 664–672.
Perez-Stable, M. (1993). The Cuban revolution: origins, course, and legacy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Peters, P. (2012, May). A viewer’s guide to Cuba’s economic reform. The Lexington Institute. Retrieved April 18, 2013, from https://www.american.edu/clals/upload/LexingtonViewersGuide-1.pdfone
Pew Research Center (2014, January). Population change in the US and the world from 1950 to 2050. Pew Research Center. Retrieved, October 17, 2015, from http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/01/30/chapter-4-population-change-in-the-u-s-and-the-world-from-1950-to-2050/
Quiñones, R.G., & Alfonso de Armas, M. (2010, June). Envejecimiento, políticas sociales y sectoriales en Cuba. Paper presented at the meeting on population aging of the Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Quintana Nedelcu, D. (2015, June 4). Cuba Posible. Las reformas en Cuba: Racionales pero con efectos sociales adversos. La educación en el mapa de la política social actual. Retrieved. June 4, 2015, from http://cubaposible.net/articulos/las-reformas-en-cuba-racionales-pero-con-efectos-sociales-adversos-la-educacion-en-el-mapa-de-la-politica-social-actual-2-aa5-6-4-3-6
Quiroga, M. (2015, December 23). Local development and the empowerment of citizens. Havana Times. Retrieved December 23, 2015, from http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=115679
Ravsberg, F. (2015, June 12). The plight of Cuba’s elderly. Havana Times. Retrieved January 31, 2015, from http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=104221
Rios, A. (2013, May 18). New tax law takes effect in Cuba to aid in economic reforms. Latin American Herald Tribune. Retrieved November 8, 2015, from http://laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=14510&;ArticleId=659910
Rodríguez Gómez, G., & Albizu-Campos, E. (2015). La dinámica demográfica cubana en el contexto actual. In M. P. Espina & D. Echeverría (Eds.), Los correlatos socioculturales den cambio económico (pp. 17–31). Ciencias Sociales: Habana.
Sánchez Egozcue, J. M. (November, 2012). Challenges of economic restructuring in Cuba. Socialism and Democracy, 26(3), 139–161.
Siegelbaum, P. (2013, December 16). Cuba economic reforms hurting the poor, experts warn. CBS News. Retrieved August 8, 2014, from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cuba-economic-reforms-hurting-the-poor-experts-warn/
Strug, D.L. (2009). Why older Cubans continue to identify with the ideals of the revolution. Socialism and Democracy. Retrieved January 3, 2015, from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/08854300802635981
Strug, D. (2014a, spring). Older persons and the Cuban reform process. International Journal of Cuban Studies, 6(1), 9–24.
Strug, D. (2014b, November 10). Cuba’s retired population struggles with economic reforms. NACLA. Web publication available at https://nacla.org/news/2014/11/10/cuba%E2%80%99s-retired-population-struggles-economic-reforms
Telesur (2015, May 26). Cuban life expectancy among the highest in world at 78.45 Years. Telesur. Retrieved May 21, 2016, from http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Cuban-Life-Expectancy-Among-the-Highest-in-World-at-78.45-Years-20150526-0011.html
Togores González, V. (1999). Cuba: Efectos sociales de la crisis y el ajuste económico en los 90s. Balance de la economía Cubana a finales de los 90s. Habana: Universidad de la Habana CEEC.
Torres, J. (1993). Pobreza: Un enfoque para Cuba. Havana: Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Económicas.
Uriarte, M. (2002). Cuba, social policy at a crossroads: Maintaining priorities, transforming practice. Oxfam. Retrieved October 6, 2015, from http://scholarworks.umb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1114&context=gaston_pubs
Valdés, T. R., & Trotta, D. (2014). Market-style reforms widen racial divide in Cuba. Reuters. Retrieved My 23, 2016, from http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-race-idUSKBN0GX0DJ20140902
Veiga, R., & Bellow, W. (2015, March 23). Cuba Posible. Cuba necesita modernizar su política social. Retrieved November 10, 2015, from http://cubaposible.net/articulos/cuba-necesita-modernizar-su-politica-social-2-aa5-3-23-5-3
Weissert, W. (2008, July 11). Raúl Castro: Communism is not egalitarianism. USA Today. Retrieved July 17, 2015, from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2008-07-11-1667894431_x.htm
Whitefield, M. (2013, August 11). Are self-employed Cubans really budding entrepreneurs? Miami Herald. Retrieved August 7, 2014, from http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/11/3554750/are-self-employed-cubans-really.html
Zabala Argüelles, M. (2010). Poverty and vulnerability in Cuba today. Socialism and Democracy, 24(1), 109–126.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Strug, D.L. The Impact of Cuban Economic Reform on Older Persons. J Cross Cult Gerontol 32, 1–16 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-016-9308-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-016-9308-y