Institutions

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with the design, implementation, and outcomes of current social protection institutions in the region. It examines in turn the three core social protection institutions: occupational pensions, individual retirement savings plans, and social assistance. Occupational pensions in Latin America are restricted to selected groups of workers, mainly skilled workers in large firms. They are also highly fragmented and dependent on public subsidies, although the level of subsidies is increasingly contested. Recent trends in labour force participation in occupational pensions suggest stagnation during this century. Individual retirement savings plans are based on individual workers’ saving capacity. They were initially implemented in ten countries in the region, under different modalities. Individual retirement savings plans have not proved successful in the region, and it is fair to say their institutional structures are in transition. Social assistance greatly expanded in the new century. Most countries in the region have implemented large scale old age transfers and conditional income transfer programmes. By 2015, social assistance transfers reached around one third of the population in the region.