CAPÍTULO II MARCO TEÓRICO
3. COBERTURA Y CÓMPUTO DE TIEMPO DE SERVICIOS
The promotion of decent work is key to overcoming poverty and CTPs can play an important role as a channel for linking and integrating people. Indeed, CTPs have already begun to incorporate activities for matching labour supply (technical and vocational training and remedial primary and secondary education) with labour demand (microcredit programmes, labour intermediation services and direct or indirect job creation) (OAS/ECLAC/ILO, 2010) to facilitate the sustainable graduation of beneficiary families from CTPs (Yaschine and Dávila, 2008).
While the envisaged measures are a valiant attempt to integrate the poorest and most vulnerable people into the job market, they pose a number of problems: matching the supply of jobs to the profile of beneficiaries; linkages with the job-creating private sector; monitoring those placed in jobs; limited financial and human resources; and lack of complementary policies allowing women to balance the burden of home care with participation in the programme. Available information shows that most CTP beneficiaries do not manage to gain stable employment and that women and young people face the greatest difficulties. The deficits in terms of education, the shortage of local employment opportunities, and ethnic and gender barriers all conspire against the likelihood of programmes successfully driving dynamic processes of incorporation of the poorest sectors into the labour market (OAS/ECLAC/ILO, 2010).
A number of vocational training and income generation initiatives via CTPs have shown the sheer complexity of providing appropriate responses to beneficiaries’ highly diverse conditions and needs. For
instance, not all families participating in CTPs have the same ability to enter the labour market (ECLAC, 2009a), exploit the opportunities offered by microcredit and microbusiness programmes (MIDEPLAN, 2009a; 2009b) or fully internalize the psychosocial counselling they have received (Nun and Trucco, 2008).
Assessments of Solidarity Chile show that granting microcredit to very poor families may be ineffective in generating income. Some of the reasons include their lack of business experience, the limited relevance of some projects and inability to plan an investment in the midst of an economic emergency with the prospect of receiving income at some future date (MIDEPLAN, 2006). As a result, many projects end up working informally or simply fail (MIDEPLAN, 2006). There have even been instances where beneficiaries decide to sell the capital assets that they have acquired to raise immediate funds. Braga, Leandro and Lyra Júnior (2008) report that Brazil’s Bolsa Família and Crediamigo (a complementary microcredit programme implemented in northern Brazil) were confined largely to shoring up existing ventures. In fact, in 82% of cases, the credit
was found to have been used to expand an existing business.15
These examples illustrate the possible limitations of microbusiness- related measures as an effective income-generation strategy for poor families, as apparently they tend to reinforce previously acquired skills, rather than developing new ways of earning income. Therefore, although many of the strategies employed may be helpful in coping with emergencies and maintaining subsistence levels, they should be considered as a temporary solution providing access to quality employment (Rodríguez and Alvarado, 2008). Indeed, in the case of Solidarity Chile, the finding is that when heads of household obtain a job perceived to be well paid and in a valued working environment, they do not consider developing a microbusiness to be an attractive option (MIDEPLAN, 2009a; 2009b).
A number of authors (León, 2008; Medeiros, Britto and Veras Soares, 2008) stress the importance of measures with a direct impact on the labour market: either social protection measures proper (labour market regulation, unemployment insurance) or measures to promote and encourage labour recruitment with broad private-sector participation, as well as measures to link beneficiaries effectively with contributory social protection schemes. Indeed, experience with Solidarity Chile has shown that one aspect that has suffered the highest rate of non-compliance (83.3%) is graduation from the programme with at least one family member working regularly and earning a stable wage (MIDEPLAN, 2009a; 2009b).
15 The sample used is not representative of beneficiary families of either Bolsa Família or
This confirms the importance of a comprehensive approach involving the use of procedures and regulations that link different social policy structures, are in line with each programme’s objectives (in terms of guaranteeing certain levels of income or human capital accumulation, for example) and are properly coordinated with the rest of public provision. This would prevent the situation where a family graduates from the initial level represented by CTPs only to rejoin unmet demand for the same programmes, but instead would allow the family to rise steadily to ever higher levels of social protection and welfare.
Chapter VI
Consolidating social protection in
Latin America: main challenges
This book has analysed different elements of the recent debate on social protection in Latin America, distinguishing conceptual, historical, normative and social policy aspects and identifying four social protection approaches that have shaped policies and programmes in the region.
As already mentioned, in terms of theory and social policy design, the idea of a more comprehensive and citizen-centric approach to social protection is gaining ground, based on complementarity between different normative and conceptual frameworks that includes human rights, basic needs and risk. There is a gradual shift away from the dual approach catering to two groups —those with a stable job in the formal sector and those living in extreme poverty— towards a more inclusive model that guarantees access to social protection for all citizens. This does not mean shelving actions and resource allocation in favour of those who most need them for reasons of equity, justice or efficiency but, instead, protection measures need to be rethought from a broader universal perspective. At the same time, public management models are being redefined in line with the redesigned policies, making inter-agency coordination one of the greatest challenges for the region.
This broader approach also meets the needs of Latin American countries arising from globalization, economic crises, the unfulfilled promise of full employment, as well as population ageing. Various social protection proposals and initiatives are being developed to deepen the role of social protection in this scenario and have revealed the need for a new
consensus, with social and fiscal covenants that ensure universal access to benefits in an environment of solidarity and efficiency (ECLAC, 2006).
While much interest has been shown in a comprehensive approach that safeguards citizen guarantees, no single design has been chosen for social protection programmes, which vary widely depending on individual countries’ political priorities and social investment, as well as their level of development. There are countries that have focused on non-contributory social protection initiatives, such as co-responsibility transfer programmes (CTPs), as a first big step in extending protection to those who have been historically excluded. Other countries combine policies of targeted non-contributory social protection with initiatives for universalizing certain benefits, such as old-age pensions in the Federal District of Mexico or the Dignity Income in the Plurinational State of Bolivia. A third group of countries have sought to form coordinated rights-based social protection systems in which non-contributory policies focusing primarily on people in situations of poverty and vulnerability and non-contributory policies are combined. These policies define ad hoc arrangements that vary according to the requirements of the different population groups.
There are many lessons to be drawn from social-protection policy experiences in the region. First, as Argentina, Brazil and Chile have shown, it is extremely important to extend social protection gradually until it reaches every citizen, consolidating stages and instruments. Second, institutional backgrounds and traditions have been found to play a major role in which the cumulative effect of different experiences in adopting universal social protection programmes and instruments is paramount, as in the case of Costa Rica and Uruguay. This does not mean leaving the rationales of the various institutions unchanged but, instead, recognizing the contribution of cultures and historical traditions when designing new social policy systems.
The goal of providing universal social protection through interlinked contributory and non-contributory systems designed from a citizen-centric and inclusive perspective is a realistic one that should be pursued. The International Labour Organization (ILO, 2009) has proposed extending the non-contributory social protection floor (see box I.1) as in a ladder, by adding a second level of compulsory contributory benefits and, finally, for those who need or want high levels of protection, a top level —voluntary private insurance. However, the path ahead is not entirely smooth and, to achieve the desired success, special actions are required based on social and fiscal contracts tailored to each country’s reality, failing which the current dual system is in danger of being perpetuated.
At the same time, there are many areas where the social protection debate should be deepened, including the third component of comprehensive social protection, labour market regulation, which has been little analysed in terms of potential instruments, strategies and opportunities for consolidation in the region. The contribution of regulation should be highlighted and policies identified for strengthening it.
In addition to addressing in a more explicit manner policies for regulating the labour market itself, social protection policies are faced with the need to strengthen links with active labour market policies. This entails actions for increasing the employability and earnings of those finding it hardest to enter the labour market and for enhancing the welfare of workers and their families (Bertranou and Paz, 2007, p. 52), especially women, young people and groups that have traditionally been the furthest removed from formal employment, such as indigenous peoples and those living in poverty or extreme poverty. Some of these policies therefore seek to increase workers’ assets (by means of training, for instance) and to prevent asset deterioration (by means of unemployment insurance).
The following sections discuss some of the challenges of implementing a comprehensive system of inclusive social protection.