In-work poverty in Latin America. Prevalence, driving forces and trends

MAURIZIO, ROXANA

Handbook of Research on In-Work Poverty

Edward Elgar Publishing

Año: 2018; p. 365 - 394

Latin America experienced a long period of sustained growth since 2003 that positively impacted social and labour market indicators. Less inequality and higher incomes resulted in lower poverty and extreme poverty incidence rates. In the period 2003-2012 the region experienced a drop of 12 percentage points in poverty. This reduction was also accompanied by a fall in the number of poor people, differing from what happened during the eighties and nineties. However, even in this positive context the region continues to exhibit important shortcomings in the labour market. The most evident are high levels of unemployment, precariousness and informality. Along with this, Latin America is still one of the most unequal regions in the world. As a consequence, a large proportion of the workforce has a job that does not generate sufficient income to escape poverty. The level and evolution of poverty in individual countries have been the subject of an extensive amount of research. However, few studies have been conducted on in-work poverty and its associated factors in Latin America. The aim of this chapter is to contribute to the understanding of the incidence, characteristics and underlying driving forces of and trends in in-work poverty in Latin America in the new millennium.