Social Well-being Economics

   CONTENTS  

A radiograph of social programs in Latin America

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the governments of Latin American countries have developed social policies to reduce poverty. Programs for income transfer multiplied in all such countries, whereas their economies were subjected to structural adjustments, and some of their functions were redefined. In these cases, minimal state intervention for the sake of individual freedom and competition of economic agents was recommended. Were such initiatives efficacious?

To better understand this recent phenomenon, Professors Carlos Nelson dos Reis and Berenice Rojas Couto chair the projects of the Research Group on Social Well-being Economics. Beginning in 2010, the studies focused on the Continent and are based on data collected from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) database and information made available online by various countries.

Technicians, students, and professors determined that governments are committed to three of the eight Millennium Development Goals that the United Nations stipulated should be achieved by 2015. The committed goals include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; providing universal fundamental education; and fighting against the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), malaria, and other diseases. However, the collected evidence emphasizes something markedly different from social advance. The interpretation of the data suggests that such programs only succeeded in the maintenance and control of poverty, instead of promoting social insertion. Although such policies are attractive for the poorer classes, actions that promote their autonomy and financial sustainability are absent.

Another project belonging to an identical line of research is devoted to a thorough study of the programs to train youths for the labor market. With what other initiatives are youths related? Do youths exhibit actual potential to maintain themselves and progress in the selected jobs as a function of the market competitiveness? The answers to these questions will be provided by research conducted in partnership with the University of Caxias do Sul (Brazil), University of Córdoba, and University of Buenos Aires (Argentina).