Uruguay 1998-2002: Income distribution during the crisis

Abstract

Following a period of growth in the 1990s, Uruguay experienced a 17.5% fall in output between 1998 and 2002. This study sets out to analyse the distribution of income in that period of crisis and to ascertain which population groups were worst affected. The results indicate that a tendency towards income concentration which had begun in the mid- 1990s became more pronounced. Furthermore, analysis of different population groups by sociodemographic and socio-economic characteristics reveals two other ongoing phenomena: a widening of the income gap between people from households with different levels of education, and between people from households dependent on pensions and allowances on the one hand, and earnings on the other. This was reflected in the age structure of the population: minors were worse affected than older adults, so that the tendency for children to concentrate in the lower income strata was entrenched.