Factors associated with poverty and indigence mobility in five Latin American countries

BECCARIA, LUIS; MAURIZIO, ROXANA; VAZQUEZ, GUSTAVO; ESPRO, MANUEL

Research on Economic Inequality

Emerald

Año: 2015 vol. 23 p. 71 - 107

1049-2585

Latin America experienced a long period of sustained growth since 2003 that positively impacted social and labor market indicators, including poverty. This paper contributes to the understanding of this process as itcarries out a comparative study of poverty and indigence dynamics infive Latin American countries during 20032012. Specifically, it extendsthe analysis of a previously published study by broadening the time coverage and examining indigence mobility. It analyzes the extent to which countries with different levels of poverty (extreme poverty) incidence diverge in terms of exit and entry rates, and identifies the relative importance of the frequency and impact of events associated with poverty transitions.For this, a dynamic analysis of panel data is carried out using regular household surveys. Sizeable rates of poverty and indigence movementswere observed in all five countries and it was found that a large proportion of poor or indigent households experienced positive events, mainly related to the labor market; however, only a small fraction of them actually exited poverty and indigence. It appeared, therefore, that even when the economy behaved reasonably well, high levels of labor turnover and income mobility (even of a negative nature) still prevail, mainly associated with the high level of precariousness and the undeveloped system of social protection that characterize the studied countries.