(Prensa Latina) The negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean are evidencing and deepening the large structural gaps in a region plagued by unemployment, poverty and inequalities.
The critical health situation brought about 209 million poor people in 2020, 22 million more than in 2019. Of these, 78 million people were living in extreme poverty, eight million more than in the previous year.
In the Social Panorama of Latin America 2020 annual report, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) points out that these poverty levels have not been observed for the last 12 and 20 years.
However, ECLAC explains, the aftermath of the pandemic only enhanced the setback experienced by the area during the six-year period between 2014 and 2019, which already showed signs of stagnation compared to the social progress achieved between 2002 and 2014.
The agency exemplifies that in Latin America between 2014 and 2019 the percentage of extreme poverty increased from 7.8 percent to 11.3 percent, and poverty grew from 27.8 percent to 30.5 percent. Not to mention that there are gaps depending on population groups, as poverty is higher in rural areas, among children and teenagers; indigenous and Afro-descendants; and in the population with lower educational levels.
Added to this is the worsening of the labor market, which since 2015 showed adverse trends in Latin America, while in 2020 experienced a sharp drop in employment and a deterioration in the quality of employment, according to a joint report by ECLAC and the International Labor Organization.
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