Latin America is going through a simultaneous process of population ageing and growing predominance of precarious employment conditions which poses a challenge for contributory pension systems. The solvency of the basic pillars of the unfunded system is being affected by the long-standing decline in the number of active persons whose contributions finance the benefits of retirees. The benefits of the individually funded systems are sensitive to the density of contributions needed to accumulate capital and finance pensions for members with increasingly long life expectancies. This study describes how this challenge manifests itself at present and examines the responsibilities that society must assume in order to cope with it.