International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.4, 2017

 

Poverty and inequality in Latin America. From the latest trends to a new agenda for development (Abstract)

 

Gerardo Caetano and Gustavo De Armas

 

Inequality continues to progress at a rapid pace on the Latin American continent, in spite of social achievements reported over the past decade in the region. Those levels of inequality, rooted in a long-standing tradition, still pose one of the main challenges to combat poverty, sustain sovereign economic growth and affirm democracy in Latin America. The authors revisit first the evolution of poverty and inequality in the region over the past decades. They point out that the reduction of poverty, indigence and inequality in income distribution experienced by most countries in the region has not sufficed to bridge other gaps that have historically marked the outlines of the region. Income asymmetries and poverty risks across ethnic groups, geographic areas (rural versus urban), age groups and gender, are still challenges to be addressed. There should be an integrated and renewed agenda of policies intended to overcome poverty to consistently reduce the inequalities that still fragment the world.