Coping with Austerity

Statistics on poverty and inequality in Latin America are rudimentary and often conflicting. Yet it is known that poverty became more widespread in the region during the last decade as it experienced economic decline. About 180 million people, or, two out of every five in the area, are now living in poverty - some 50 million more than in 1980. It is also known that income and wealth are far more unequally distributed in Latin America than in most other developing regions. In this book, the contributors examine how poverty and inequality are - or are not - being addressed in each country. They also explore the viability of alternative approaches to combatting poverty and to reducing inequality. They explain that virtually no one denies that governments must take a leading role in the provision of health, education and other social services. Yet there are sharp debates - over the compatibility of social spending with economic adjustment and stabilization; the priority of social exependitures in relation to other governmental spending; the allocation of funds among different social programmes; who should, and should not, benefit; and who should pay the costs.