The cascade of crises that Latin America and the Caribbean have faced since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 generated strong deteriorations in poverty, inequality, and employment. Although since 2022 the region has shown a slight favorable trend of recovery in several dimensions of inclusive social development (ECLAC, 2023),[1] it is still mired in a double structural trap of low growth and important levels of poverty and inequality. Inequality is a historical and structural characteristic of this region, which has been maintained and reproduced even in periods of growth and economic prosperity (ECLAC, 2016).[2]
Inequality has been at the center of ECLAC's thinking and reflections in its 75 years of existence, contributing from an analysis at the interregional level, with the proposals on center-periphery dynamics in relation to sectoral asymmetries in economic development (ECLAC, 1951),[3] to the distribution of income, wealth, and the exercise of rights. The structural heterogeneity that characterizes the functioning of the productive systems of the countries of the region, in which low-productivity sectors generate most of the employment, is one of the determinants of inequality in the region. The labour market is the fundamental link between this productive structure and income inequality. It has been argued that this structural inequality is a major barrier to the development of the countries of the region, as well as to the eradication of poverty, the expansion of citizenship and the exercise of rights (ECLAC, 2010,[4] 2012[5] and 2014[6]). It is, moreover, inefficient because it has a negative impact on productivity, taxation, and environmental sustainability (ECLAC, 2018) .[7]
With the approach of the "Social Inequality Matrix" (ECLAC, 2016) as a guiding analytical framework, it is argued that, together with socioeconomic status, inequalities in economic well-being and rights are determined by structuring axes such as gender, those related to the different stages of people's life cycle (including intergenerational inequality), ethnic-racial origin, disability, migratory status and territory (such as urban segmentation and disadvantages in rural sectors), among others. These axes intersect and combine with each other, generating a multiplicity of factors and expressions of inequality (of well-being and exercise of rights) that accumulate over time.
In contexts of high labour informality and inequality, with wide gaps in the social protection systems that characterize the region, the lower strata often have to face uncertainty and individual and collective shocks at the cost of their present and future well-being. This vulnerability to poverty characterizes the middle sectors that have managed to escape poverty but, as the COVID-19 pandemic showed, any socioeconomic shock or crisis can cause them to fall back into poverty, especially when they are not sufficiently and timely covered by social protection systems.
Today there is widespread recognition of the relevance of addressing inequality and promoting social inclusion. This is clearly based on the rights-based approach and the recognition of the negative consequences it has on the development of capabilities and individual wellbeing. But it is also a necessary objective for economic growth and sustainable development, a centrality that is clearly highlighted in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and reflected in the public policy lines of action agreed by the countries of the region in the Regional Agenda for Inclusive Social Development (ECLAC, 2020). Progress in reducing inequality gaps is key to achieving inclusive social development and this is an inherent dimension of sustainable development in the region.
The objective of this seminar is to promote reflection and dialogue to advance in the recognition, analysis of the characteristics and dimensioning of social inequality in the region. Therefore, it seeks to strengthen the design of public policies that allow progress in inclusive social development and thus progress in meeting the goals agreed by the countries in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
[1] Social Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2023: labour inclusion as a key axis of inclusive social development (LC/PUB.2023/18-P/Rev.1).
[2] The social inequality matrix in Latin America (LC/G.2690).
[3] Estudio económico de América Latina 1949.
[4] Time for equality: closing gaps, opening trails. Thirty-third session of ECLAC (LC/G.2432(SES.33/3)).
[5] Structural change for equality: an integrated approach to development. Thirty-four session of ECLAC (LC/G.2524(SES.34/3)).
[6] Compacts for Equality: Towards a Sustainable Future (LC/G.2586 (SES.35/3)).
[7] The Inefficiency of Inequality (LC/SES.37/3-P).
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