WELFARE STATE IN LATIN AMERICA

Latin America

Welfare states in Latin America have been considered as 'welfare states in

transition'[60] or 'emerging welfare states'.[61] Mesa-Lago has classified the
countries taking into account the historical experience of their welfare
systems.[62] The pioneers were Uruguay, Chile and Argentina, as they started to
develop the first welfare programs in the 1920s following a bismarckian model.
Other countries such as Costa Rica developed a more universal welfare system
(1960s–1970s) with social security programs based on the Beveridge model.[63]
Researchers such as Martinez-Franzoni [64] and Barba-Solano [65] have examined
and identified several welfare regime models based on the typology of Esping-
Andersen. Other scholars such as Riesco[66] and Cruz-Martinez [67] have
examined the welfare state development in the region.

According to Alex Segura-Ubiergo:

Latin American countries can be divided into two groups depending on their
'welfare effort' levels. The first group, which we may call welfare states, includes
Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and Brazil. Within this group, average
social spending per capita in the 1973–2000 period was around $532, while as a
percentage of GDP and as a share of the budget, social spending reached 51.6
and 12.6 percent, respectively. In addition, between approximately 50 and 75
percent of the population is covered by the public health and pension social
security system. In contrast, the second group of countries, which we call non-
welfare states, has welfare-effort indices that range from 37 to 88. Within this
second group, social spending per capita averaged $96.6, while social spending
as a percentage of GDP and as a percentage of the budget averaged 5.2 and
34.7 percent, respectively. In terms of the percentage of the population actually
covered, the percentage of the active population covered under some social
security scheme does not even reach 10 percent.[68]