Poverty and social policy in Latin America

Abstract

This chapter presents recent poverty trends in Latin America, identifying both shared patterns across countries and regional heterogeneity. It briefly contextualizes these trends in the macroeconomic performance of the region and discusses labour market features associated to poverty incidence. The chapter also examines social policies oriented to provide income security over the life-course, focusing on recent developments in cash benefits for families with children, working-age adults and older adults. It highlights progress over the past 15 years, including a considerable drop in poverty rates and the expansion of social policies, but also points at the large deficits that remain in a highly unequal region, where informal employment continues to be widespread and the social protection system still falls short of effectively providing minimum income security for all.