How is the Slowdown Affecting Households in Latin America and the Caribbean?

Calvo-Gonzalez, Oscar ; Castaneda, R. Andres ; Farfan, Maria Gabriela ; Reyes, German ; Sousa, Liliana D.

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: economic growth;    poverty;    inequality;    slowdown;    low growth;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7948
RP-ID  :  WPS7948

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper shows evidence that suggeststhe economic slowdown in Latin America and the Caribbean hasalready translated into slowing social gains, includingdecelerating poverty reduction, stagnating growth of themiddle class, and lower income growth. The countries ofSouth America outperformed Mexico, Central America, and theCaribbean in poverty reduction during the decade up to 2012.But since then, a new story has emerged. In recent years,poverty reduction has been disappointing across the entireregion, which seems to be converging toward low growth withslow poverty reduction and stagnant inequality. However,this apparent convergence in poverty reduction is driven bydiverging labor market patterns. In a reversal of the trendsseen during the commodity boom, real wages have been fallingin South America and rising in Mexico, Central America, andthe Caribbean. As lower economic growth is likely, the newnormal will pose challenges for policy makers, in protectingthe gains achieved and for societies as they face a mismatchbetween expectations and actual social mobility.