The poverty problem in Chile

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1. Introduction - The poverty problem in Chile
When Chile became a democracy in the early 1990s, it experienced a rapid drop in poverty, which corresponded with its economic growth. However, despite continuing growth as Chile approached the turn of the century, the decline in poverty stagnated (see fig 1.) with the number of people in extreme poverty actually increasing from 5.6% to 5.7% in the years 1998-2000, highlighting that growth alone is not sufficient in reducing poverty. The imperative to look beyond economic growth for reducing poverty is reinforced by data from ECLAC, which reveals that Latin American countries with better social indicators than others had lower levels of poverty than those with the lowest social indicators. It was within this context, with the intention of addressing this issue, that Chile Solidario was created.

2. Chile Solidario: an overview

Aims and Objectives
Chile Solidario is a program targeting Chile’s extreme poor. Implemented by the Lagos administration in 2002, it is more than just a conditional cash transfer program. Rather, it aims to be...

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