Individual pension savings accounts in Latin America promised to improve compliance and raise benefits in a cost-effective manner, while at the same time raising savings rates, which would in turn promote economic growth. A review of the evolution of pension reform in Latin America shows results to have been mixed. Analyses of the recent reforms generally fail to consider the extent to which the success or failure of pension systems is driven by exogenous factors, including macroeconomic and labour market conditions, and institutions. A number of recent studies have issued a reassessment of the region's reforms that stresses the importance of a basic guaranteed pension benefit and recognizes that a range of alternatives are viable in the region.Pension systems based on individual accounts are undergoing a thorough reevaluation.I n di vid ual ac counts were pre sented as a pan a cea for Latin Amer ica, but the re sults have been mixed. Re form pro pos als were based upon a cri tique of the ex ist ing de fined ben efit pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model that was of ten de scribed as in ef fi cient, in ad e quate, and a drag on eco nomic growth. Without ex pand ing the base of con tri bu tors, such programmes raised pay roll taxes as ben efits stag nated, and were char ac ter ized by re gres sive re dis tribu tion. Tra di tional PAYG sys tems were also crit i cized for not gen er at ing sav ings, which low ered po ten tial GDP growth. 3The views ex pressed in this ar ti cle are those of the au thors and do not re flect the views of the Fed eral Re serve Bank of At lanta, the US Fed eral Re serve Sys tem, or the Bra zil ian Min is try of So cial In sur ance.

This chapter describes Brazil's social security system and the highly contentious reform process. While much of the rest of the South American region moved toward individual accounts, Brazil engaged in parametric reforms. Recently, the country introduced the fator previdenci ário, a system akin to a notional DC system, whereby contributions and benefits are strictly linked but contributions do not go into individual-funded savings accounts. Although a few political leaders have favoured private accounts, individual accounts never received much political support, and the transition costs are considered potentially prohibitive, reaching as high as 201% of GDP. Structural reform is complicated by the fact that the social security system is codified in the 1988 constitution, which means that any structural reform needs to go through the laborious and politically costly constitutional amendment process. It is argued that administrative and legislative reforms that would make the system more efficient and equitable are possible even when support for constitutional reform is lacking.

To achieve national goals defined by the 1988 Brazilian Federal Constitution, cash benefits alone are insufficient in the absence of more robust social services to reduce inequalities and improve social cohesion. The Constitution, albeit of national importance and international significance, has not addressed many institutional and administrative weaknesses in the design of the national pension system. Although coverage has been increased and inequality reduced, these measures are not sufficient. Brazil's ambitions to further develop social policies (and, indeed, to live up to its accorded international status as a social policy leader) may be constrained by an over‐reliance on conditional cash transfers such as those provided under the Bolsa Família programme. Brazil faces a major political‐economy challenge in addressing all these issues because the policy reform process is difficult, and, more importantly, because of the embedded role of vested interests. Moreover, Brazil must tackle these issues in the face of growing fiscal pressures, which could weaken the current political legitimacy of social policy and undermine important recent successes.

O capítulo buscará analisar o universo de informações e desafios inerente ao sistema educacional brasileiro, com vistas a organizar o debate e propiciar ao leitor um volume de informações coerente e multifacetado para compreender esse cenário. Além disso, haverá um esforço para analisar o que pode ser feito em matéria de políticas públicas para superar os atuais desafios. Assim, o capítulo contará, além desta apresentação, com duas seções adicionais: a primeira apresenta e analisa as principais medidas de políticas públicas em educação em 2019 e 2020 na educação básica e na superior; enquanto a segunda se aprofunda em temas relativos a esse escopo em meio à pandemia, colocando em destaque os desafios que daí decorrem. Ao final, será apresentada a conclusão do estudo.

Since Brazil's re-democratization in 1985, the country's system of social protection has become more focused on the neediest population groups while at the same time emphasizing universal access. In a context of severe inequality, the sub-national units of government have played a greater role in reaching the broader population. Yet Brazil's social protection model favours cash transfers over social services, and reduces inequalities in the context of a highly unequal labour market. Strategies based on cash transfers appear to have reached their limits, because they are not the most effective way to promote equality and generate opportunities, when compared to the outcomes obtained by social service provision. Furthermore, while much progress toward reducing inequality has been achieved, benefits and services continue to fall short of what might be considered as typifying a welfare state or "Dynamic Social Security".