International Labor Organization Urges Stronger Social Protections in Latin America

“When the economy is doing well, social protection systems work better, they develop, more people are covered. But when crises hit, spending cuts must be made and social protections are affected,” the ILO’s director for the Southern Cone, Fabio Bertranou, told reporters in Buenos Aires.

Applying counter-cyclical fiscal policies to face economic fluctuations is one of the recommendations made in the ILO’s report “Present and future of social protection in Latin America and the Caribbean,” which was presented Wednesday by Bertranou, ILO regional director Jose Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, and the representative to Argentina, Pedro Furtado de Oliveira.

“The demographic transition is affecting us because, as opposed to what is taking place in other regions, ageing in Latin America is happening at a very fast rate and could create swift changes in the next two decades,” Bertranou said.

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