The Viagra Effect

The pension system in Brazil is been stretched to the limit -- and it's not due to an increase in the number of retirees, but rather to what the country's National Social Security Institute calls "The Viagra Effect," reports Agence France-Presse.

Brazilians are collecting retirement money for far longer than the country's social security system was designed to handle. But while longevity is usually cause for celebration, the government is blaming longevity between the sheets for the costly demographic shift.

Turns out that more and more Brazilian men are marrying women half their age. While Viagra and other male enhancement drugs aren't directly to blame, the moniker reflects the, uh, boost in confidence the pills can bring about in older men, who then scoop up pretty young things. But when the older men inevitably die before their spring chicken spouses, the government is holding the bag -- doling out social security checks to widows for some 30 more years.

Seems that the Social Security Institute, whose study suggested some kind of reform is in order, is the only one, well, unsatisfied with the situation.

Photo courtesy Flickr.