Social Protection in Latin America: Achievements and Limitations

Abstract

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

On the Distributional Implications of Social Protection Reforms in Latin America

“…Current research and policy discussions have not lead to a settled view on this issue. The emerging orthodoxy argues for a stronger integration of social insurance and social assistance, and an urgent upgrade of labour market policies (CEPAL 2006;Ferreira and Robalino 2010;Levy 2008;Ribe et al 2010). The outlook is different for lower and upper middle income countries in the region.…”

Inclusive Social Protection in Latin America: A Comprehensive, Rights-Based Approach

“…contributory social protection was confined mainly to food and energy subsidies, although a few feeding programmes and small transfer programmes were starting to emerge for vulnerable groups, such as disabled persons (Ferreira and Robalino, 2010). 4 The social policy management model of the time was characterized by central planning, a historical trend in Latin America determined by the political context, as well as the unitary organization of most countries and 'latent centralism' of those with a federal structure (Franco, 2003).…”

“…This new proposal emphasizes two major challenges that need to be addressed: informal employment, which acts as a barrier to entry to social protection, and fragmented access by both formal-and informal-sector workers to the benefits of social protection policies. It also stresses the need to find ways to extend contributory social protection to all citizens, irrespective of their employment status, while ensuring the sustainable enhancement of their human capital and employability (Ferreira and Robalino 2010;Ribe, Robalino and Walker, 2010).…”

Innovative Features in Conditional Cash Transfers

“…During this phase, Chile moved to a social assistance based model of social protection, adopting conditional cash transfers (CCTs) as the main instrument, thus following the trend in many other Latin American countries over the last twenty years (Ferreira and Robalino, 2010).…”