Social panorama of Latin America 2009

This paper links trends in poverty and income distribution with social protection systems, placing special emphasis on how these systems have responded to the social impacts of recent crisis. The report notices that the different states of the region vary in their preparedness to protect at-risk groups in an economic downturn.

The paper underlines these findings:

• the countries of the region have responded proactively to the complex situation, adopting countercyclical economic and social measures
• nevertheless, no strategy has yet emerged to address the complex interplay among the state, the family and the market
• the amount of social spending continues to be insufficient and has failed to have the impact needed to improve well-being and increase equity —particularly in countries where it is needed the most
• public transfers have an uneven redistributive impact from one sector and programme to the next
• the relatively more developed countries have a large number of tools to mitigate the impact of crisis
• families in countries with more incipient welfare states depend largely on state’s strategies for entering various markets and on their ability to do so
• unless addressed comprehensively, the issue of political power could thwart efforts to promote social cohesion
  

The paper stresses the importance of social protection systems to promote collective, universal care services, as well as state regulations and incentives that encourage fairer division of paid and unpaid work. Furthermore, the paper recommends that:

• social protection systems must promote equal access for persons of varying income levels who require care
• at the same time, special attention to the different needs of families and individuals must be paid
• it must foster greater inter-generational solidarity through the provision of benefits
• these principles must be enshrined in social protection systems according to the type of welfare regime instituted