In recent decades, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have implemented a wide variety of non-contributory social protection policies. Their main objective has been to reduce poverty and inequality levels and promote social inclusion and access to basic services, such as education and health, among the most vulnerable populations. These policies can also contribute to strengthening the resilience of social protection systems. Due to the magnitude of their coverage and presence in the countries of the region, this database includes information on three of these policies: conditional cash transfer programs (CTPs) and other continuous transfers, non-contributory pension systems (NCPS) and labor inclusion programs (ILPs).
Conditional cash transfer programs seek to contribute to reducing poverty and strengthening the human capacities of their recipients. They are characterized by providing monetary benefits to families in situations of poverty and vulnerability, subject to the fulfillment of a series of conditions, including the attendance of children and adolescents to educational centers and health checks, among other areas. Together, countries have implemented a series of continuous cash transfers that are targeted and not subject to conditionality, and are aimed at providing minimum income guarantees to the most vulnerable households.
Non-contributory pension systems are stable cash benefits that seek to protect people from the risks arising from a lack of income in old age or due to disability, especially among those who have not had access to contributory pension benefits, or who have access to benefits of insufficient amounts. These benefits are part of pension systems and seek to prevent older people and people with disabilities from falling into poverty, as well as reducing inequalities in pension systems and contribute to the protection of their income.
Labor inclusion programs seek to promote the insertion of people in the labor market in decent working conditions, that is, with access to social protection, productive employment that generates an income that exceeds the poverty line, and security in the workplace. The scope of these programs includes training and vocational education, leveling of studies, direct and indirect job creation, support for micro-enterprises and employment intermediation services.
The Database of Non-Contributory Social Protection Programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean (BDPSNC) of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is managed by the Social Development Division and systematizes data on the characteristics of non-contributory social protection programmes implemented by the countries of the region. The information collected includes data on the characteristics and institutionality of the programmes, as well as quantitative information on investment, coverage and –when applicable or available– amounts of monetary transfers associated with these programmes. Detailed information is included on the different components of the non-contributory social protection programmes identified. These data have been provided by the governments or obtained from documents, official country records and other secondary sources, which are detailed in each of the programme sheets.
This database was created in response to the mandate of the First Meeting of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, held on November 2-4, 2015 in Lima, Peru. Twenty-three countries from Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe participated in this meeting and agreed to request ECLAC, through Resolution 1(I), to organize, maintain and systematically update information on non-contributory social protection programs implemented by the countries of the region.
The Database of Non-Contributory Social Protection Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean has been updated within the framework of the following projects with German Cooperation: ECLAC-BMZ/giz Project “Productive, ecological and socially just economic transformation”; ECLAC-BMZ/giz Project “Transformative reactivation: Overcoming the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean” and ECLAC-BMZ/giz Project “Sustainability of transfer programmes with co-responsibility” (GER/001/09). Likewise, the Ford Foundation, through the project “Social inequality and the future of workers in Latin America in the context of post-pandemic recovery” and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), through the cooperation program “Social protection and inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean” (SWE / 09/002), as well as the United Nations Development Account projects "Time for equality: Strengthening the institutional framework for social policies" (ROA 235-8) and "Promoting equality: Strengthening the capacity of selected developing countries to design and implement public policies and programs aimed at equality" (ROA 315-9), have contributed to this work. Until 2020, the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provided the translation of the contents of the database into English.
The ECLAC document "Non-contributory social protection programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean: methodological review of the estimation of coverage and investment trends" (in press) analyses the evolution of population coverage and investment in these programmes until 2022 and presents the methodology for harmonising the coverage and investment series of the CTPs and non-contributory pension systems of the countries in the region, as well as the steps taken to generate regional coverage and investment aggregates. The ECLAC document “Non-contributory pension systems in Latin America and the Caribbean: towards solidarity with sustainability” and “Social programmes, poverty eradication and labour inclusion: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean”, as well as the documents “The future of social protection in the midst of a protracted social crisis in Latin America: advancing towards universal, comprehensive, sustainable and resilient systems”; “Políticas activas de mercado de trabajo en América Latina y el Caribe: desafíos para la inclusión laboral con protección social”; and “Conditional cash transfer programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean: Coverage and investment trends”, among others, have used information from this database for their preparation.
To cite or acknowledge the use of the NCSPDB, it is suggested to indicate:
"Database of non-contributory social protection programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean", Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Available [online] https://dds.cepal.org/bpsnc/home. Retrieved on [access date].
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