The Working Group on “Poverty and Social Policies” was established as a collective that studies and critically debates the conditions of poverty, inequality, and social exclusion, as well as the prevailing regressive distribution patterns in Latin America. Currently, the Working Group comprises 19 members of diverse nationalities, seeking to represent the socioeconomic and political heterogeneity of the Americas (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay). It aims to integrate four new young researchers from priority countries (Bolivia (1), Cuba (1), and El Salvador (2)). Regarding its connection with other Latin American nations, particularly those in the Andes, this Group plans to establish regular contact with other groups addressing related topics, such as the one on “Welfare Schemes in the 21st Century” and the one on “Urban Inequalities,” which have been created and coordinated by researchers from those countries (Ecuador and Peru), prioritizing the analysis of their specific realities.

In the last three years (2016-2019) the “Poverty and Social Policies” Group continued with the analysis of the expansion processes of protection policies that characterized the first two decades of the 21st century (Midaglia, Ordóñez and Valencia, 2018), considering the advances in social assistance (Conditional Cash Transfer Programs, Barba, 2016; Cecchini, Simone and Atuesta, 2017; Valencia Lomelí, 2019), labor reforms (Cook and Bazler, 2013) and the review of health systems. Added to this were discussions about the difficulties of making effective strategic public policies for social integration, such as social housing and popular habitat (Ziccardi, 2016; Ziccardi, 2018), promoting a local approach to urban social policies (Ziccardi and Álvarez, 2017) and making effective the recognition of rights for vulnerable and ethnic-racial groups (Puyana, 2019; Ordóñez, 2019).

The issues raised have been addressed taking into account the predominant model of economic development adopted in Latin America (Puyana, 2018) and the class structure that has emerged in the region, after phases of economic growth and contraction (Álvarez Leguizamón, et al., 2016).   

From 2013 onwards, a certain economic downturn began to be observed, mainly due to the drop in commodity prices (Grijalva, 2014). The process of slowing growth transformed into an economic recession and was accompanied, in South America, by political changes, in which left-leaning or progressive forces that governed those countries—the so-called Left Turn (Arditi, 2009)—were replaced by political parties or coalitions with neoliberal government programs, labeled as right-wing.

It is worth noting that during this period the favorable social effects of the previous fifteen years were still in effect, particularly regarding the regional downward trend in levels of economic inequality (Gini index, ECLAC, 2017:44). The explanation for this trend went beyond the impacts generated by economic expansion itself, highlighting the pro-distribution role played by the social policy package. The main political factors influencing the adoption of these social policies include: democratic competition and the mobilization of popular sectors (Garay, 2016); Left-wing governments, and in particular the type of left in power, improving labor rights (Levitsky and Roberts, 2011), and other elements were added, contemplated in the well-known “power resources theory” (Korpi, 2006), focused on the fact that the mobilization of collective actors (unions) and the articulation with progressive political forces promote the expansion of welfare demands (Carneiro, 2017).

In this context of political and economic change, the GT sought to include new dimensions of analysis that would allow it to evaluate the accumulations in regional well-being, its critical issues, the permanence of the progress achieved, with a view to identifying the most relevant causes that were once again leading to cuts in social protection in these latitudes (Midaglia, Ordoñez and Valencia, 2018).  

In light of the political and academic debate outlined above, some of the assumptions discussed in the Working Group suggested that the current phase of economic slowdown would lead to distributive adjustments that would not dismantle the overall social protection system, since democratic dynamics and citizens' expectations of well-being would limit the possibility of implementing radical social cuts (Filgueira, 2013). It was acknowledged that the arrival of liberal parties to power would promote more restrictive social policy systems, but the need for citizen votes, assuming a robust regional democratic system with institutional checks and balances, would lead to selective reductions in public interventions (Garay, 2016).

During this critical phase, the Working Group held a series of academic events and exchanges to publicize its discussions, which led to the following meetings: the organization of three panels at the CLACSO Assembly, Buenos Aires, 2018; an International Seminar, “The Future of Social Policy in Latin America,” FLACSO, Havana, 2017; a panel at the Congress of Sociology (ALAS), “Sociology in Times of Change,” Montevideo, 2017; participation of its members in LASA 2018; the Seminar on New (and Old) Structures of Social Policies in Latin America, UdelaR, Montevideo, 2016; and the UdeG, CROP, COLEF Seminar, 2018. During this period, the group publication, entitled: Social Policies in Latin America at the Beginning of the 21st Century, was finalized. Innovations, Inertia and Setbacks, Ed. Colegio de la Frontera Norte and CLACSO, 2018 and the book Latina A. Cinadamore, A. Ivo, C. Midaglia and A. Barrantes (editors). Siglo XXI, Mexico op. cit. In addition to this, a large number of publications by each of the members of the group who published in those years were detailed in this Report.

In accordance with the considerations made in point 2, and taking into account that the central theme of GT is economic and social policy options, these become a key element in modifying the situations of poverty and social exclusion that affect the majority of working families in Latin America (Midaglia and Antía, 2017). Therefore, the current context of political changes and shifts in regional and international growth patterns become factors with a significant impact on the reformulation of welfare and poverty reduction policies in this continent (Barba, et al., 2019).

The analytical perspectives and hypotheses that were handled since 2016 did not foresee a dismantling of the protection matrix, which tended to expand, although differentially, in Latin American nations in the 21st century, even qualifying this expansion as an alternative regional route towards the universalization of public social provision (Martínez and Sánchez, 2016). 

It was projected for the present, as indeed happened, that the more liberal political forces would win governments with strong support from the middle and upper socioeconomic sectors. However, no serious revisions were expected in strategic social policies, such as labor and assistance policies, which have the capacity to curb or at least moderate situations of social vulnerability (Fidel, Di Tomaso and Farías, 2018; Golbert, 2018).  

In this context, the case of Brazil became emblematic given its significant economic and political influence in Latin America. In that country, severe cuts in public spending and a labor reform were implemented that entailed significant limitations on workers' collective and individual rights (Ivo, 2018). It should be noted that these reformulations toward restrictive public policies were carried out within a weakened democratic system, marked by accusations of political corruption and the removal of the president through impeachment proceedings, thus altering the orientation and balance of political forces that had emerged from the national elections (Traversa and Carneiro, 2017). 

There is no doubt that the pro-distribution coalition that dominated the first decade of the 21st century is seriously weakened, but at the same time, the stability of the socioeconomic and political foundations of the region's new governments is not evident. The current political situation, as described and exemplified by the Brazilian case, which can be extended to other nations, demonstrates that the assumption underlying the hypothesis about the future of regional well-being—that democracy functioned under adequate accountability parameters that allowed it to consolidate—does not appear to hold true. 

In this sociopolitical and economic context of Latin America, future studies are obligated to consider in detail, for each country in the region, the patterns of cuts to various social benefits, the current structure of key social actors such as labor unions, paying attention to their degree of internal fragmentation, their strategies for defending the benefits they have gained, and the alliances they have established with the new governments and economic elites. The presence of other intermediaries involved in the design and management of social policies must also be analyzed, such as civil associations and social organizations that operate in processes of outsourcing social services (e.g., daycare centers, schools) or in social programs for neighborhood or housing improvement (Ziccardi, 2018).

Thus, the Working Group, in this phase of regional juncture, aimed to combine its thematic tradition, supported by its studies and discussions published in journals, with innovations in political and academic topics and issues, broadening the explanations of the changes taking place in Latin America. It is important to note that the direction of these changes in the realm of social policies and political economy is not linear, as exemplified by the Mexican case. It is precisely in the Mexican case that the analysis of the local context becomes relevant, since, in order to confront the conditions of poverty and social exclusion amplified by the adoption of neoliberal economic policies imposed by the federal government, Mexico City designed and implemented innovative urban social policies. In addition, in 2017 the first local Constitution was approved, whose central axis is a Charter of Rights that recognizes and guarantees a wide range of rights, and includes fourth generation rights such as the right to the city, seeking to create a new institutional framework that allows for the improvement of the living conditions of the entire citizenry (Álvarez and Ziccardi, 2017; Ziccardi, 2018).

Based on the arguments outlined above, this Group intends to reaffirm and renew its thematic areas of inquiry and debate over the next three years. The main lines of work are listed below:

 1.- Democracy, government orientation and regional protection: the role of right-wing, left-wing and progressive politics in Latin America.

2.- Changes, stability and setbacks in coalitions supporting the distribution of welfare and governance models at the regional, national and local levels.

3.- Movements, collective actors and action strategies in favor of distribution.

4. Reformulations in the main sectoral social policies (health, labor, housing, care), the orientation of emerging social protection schemes, and new forms of citizen inclusion in public decisions linked to social policies and programs.

5.- Poverty and Social Integration: the review of the components of social assistance towards vulnerable populations. 

6. Socio-economic and territorial inequalities, new rights, pending rights and their conversion into social protection strategies (gender, generations, ethnic-racial situations).

7.- Urban poverty, residential segregation and new social policies at the national and local levels.