Inclusive social development: The next generation of policies for overcoming poverty and reducing inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean

Inclusive social development: the next generation of policies for overcoming poverty...
ranging from 1.2 to 1.8 times the poverty line; and (iv) those considered not vulnerable to poverty, who earn more
than 1.8 times the poverty line.
The vulnerable sectors suffer from shortcomings in a long list of areas: unemployment insurance, monetary savings,
health insurance, adequate pensions or retirement plans, private insurance for various eventualities and, in many
cases, their own homes. They also generally report high numbers of dependants and are unable to secure access to
quality employment with social protection. For that reason, anti-poverty policies must not only help people escape
from poverty, but also keep them from slipping back into it.
The region’s data testify to the magnitude of the problem: the exposure of large sectors of Latin America’s population
to the risk of returning to situations of poverty or extreme poverty, in a context of lower economic growth, slower job
creation, increased levels of unemployment and informal work, and obstacles to the expansion of social spending.
Figure I.3 indicates the large proportion of the Latin American population that still lives in extreme poverty,
poverty or vulnerability to poverty. Despite a major reduction during the period under review (from 70.4% in 1990
to 50.9% in 2013), less than half the region’s population (49.1%) can be considered not vulnerable to poverty by
ECLAC criteria. 3 Figure I.3 also shows that the rates of extreme poverty, poverty and vulnerability affect more intensely
those segments of the population that generally, because of a lack of appropriate and systematic information, are
not covered by studies. Thus, when the population is broken down by ethnic or racial origin, 4 it can be seen that
these rates are much higher among indigenous and Afro-descendent populations, which highlights the need to focus
actions on those groups.
Figure I.3
Latin America (weighted average for 18 countries and for 8 countries): profile of income vulnerability,
around 1990, 2002, 2008 and 2013, and by race or ethnic group, around 2011
(Percentages)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
29.6 33.5
15.2
27.2
28.0
16.4
27.7
22.4
42.0
17.4
24.5
49.1
17.0
21.8
16.0 12.1
1990 2002 2008 2013 Non-Afrodescendent
population
62
15
16
56
16
17
7 11
Afro-descendent
population
2011 (8 countries) a
33
19
29
18
Indigenous
population
Indigent or highly vulnerable to extreme poverty
Vulnerable to poverty
Poor or highly vulnerable to poverty
Not vulnerable
Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of special tabulations of data from household surveys conducted in the countries.
a
Weighted average for Brazil (2011), Chile (2011), Ecuador (2011), Mexico (2010), Paraguay (2011), Peru (2011), the Plurinational State of Bolivia (2009) and Uruguay (2011).
To cover the broad segments of the population beneath the vulnerability line, there is a need for broader
opportunities for decent work and stronger social protection systems, in order to address the vulnerability to which
families are exposed, particularly at times of crisis.
3
In just 6 of the 18 Latin American countries examined in figure I.3 did the non-vulnerable population represent more than half of the
population (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica, Brazil and Panama); in another six, those deemed not vulnerable accounted for
25% or less of the total population (Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Guatemala, El Salvador and the Plurinational State of Bolivia).
4
To examine the poverty levels affecting indigenous and Afro-descendent populations, this report uses information from household
surveys in eight countries that in 2011 included questions identifying the population by its ethnic or racial origin: the Plurinational
State of Bolivia (2009), Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico (2010), Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. While they do not represent the entire
region, the results provide a view of the dimensions of the extreme poverty, poverty and inequality affecting those groups, as well as
of other social indicators that will be studied later in this chapter.
Chapter I
19