Kenneth A. Loparo 
Citizen’s Income and Welfare Regimes in Latin America 
From Cash Transfers to Rights

Social protection systems in Latin America developed in a fragmented manner, offering varying access to benefits and benefit levels to population groups. In the context of widespread informal and precarious work, social insurance institutions could only provide limited coverage. In this context, progress toward a Citizen’s Income policy in Latin America depends on the possibility of reappraising its importance for an integrated institutional system which promotes the empowerment and economic independence of people. A Citizen’s Income policy is not only a cash transfer to alleviate poverty or a basic income for food. It is a basic right to improve democracy and encourage a more autonomous development of people living in profoundly unequal societies.

Table of Content

Introduction 1. Lo Vuolo, Rubén. First Part: Citizen’s Income and Cash Transfers 2. Lavinas, Lena: Brazil: the lost road to citizen’s income. 3. Lo Vuolo, Rubén: The Argentine ‘Universal Child Allowance’ for the unemployed and informal workers 4. Arza, Camila: Basic pensions in Latin America: Towards a rights-based policy? 5. Yanes, Pablo: Targeting and conditionalities in Mexico: the end of a cash transfer model? 6. Krozer, Alice and Lo Vuolo, Rubén: A Regional Citizen’s Income to Reduce Poverty in Central America. Second Part: Citizen’s Income and the Latin American Public Agenda 7. Walterberg, Fabio: Are Latin Americans – Brazilians in Particular – Willing to Support an Unconditional Citizen’s Income? 8. Pribble, Jennifer: The Politics of Citizen Income Programs in Latin America: Policy Legacies and Party Character. 9. Rodriguez Enriquez, Corina: Should Citizen´s Income become a goal for feminism in Latin America? 10. Haagh, Louise: Citizen’s Income and Democratization in Latin America – A Multi-Institutional Perspective. 11. Gargarella, Roberto: Citizen’s Income and the material basis of the Constitution. Epilogue 12. Lo Vuolo, Rubén.

About the author

Lena Lavinas Camila Arza Pablo Yanes Alice Krozer Fabio Walterberg Jennifer Pribble Corina Rodriguez Enriquez Louise Haagh Roberto Gargarella