155 Social programmes, poverty eradication and labour inclusion Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean Social Development Social LAÍS ABRAMO SIMONE CECCHINI BEATRIZ MORALES Thank you for your interest in this ECLAC publication ECLAC Publications Please register if you would like to receive information on our editorial products and activities. When you register, you may specify your particular areas of interest and you will gain access to our products in other formats. www.cepal.org/en/publications ublicaciones www.cepal.org/apps Social programmes, poverty eradication and labour inclusion Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean Laís Abramo Simone Cecchini Beatriz Morales ECLAC Books 155 Alicia Bárcena Executive Secretary Mario Cimoli Deputy Executive Secretary Raúl García-Buchaca Deputy Executive Secretary for Management and Programme Analysis Laís Abramo Chief, Social Development Division Ricardo Pérez Chief, Publications and Web Services Division This book was prepared by Laís Abramo, Chief of the Social Development Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and Simone Cecchini, Senior Social Affairs Officer, and Beatriz Morales, Research Assistant, with the same Division, in the framework of the activities conducted under the project “Vocational education and training for greater equality in Latin America and the Caribbean”, implemented by ECLAC and the Government of Norway. The authors wish to convey particular thanks to Olga Lucía Acosta, Bernardo Atuesta, Armando Barrientos, Tereza Campello, Ignacio Carrasco, Sonia Gontero, Raúl Holz, Carlos Maldonado, Marta Rangel, Claudia Robles, Cecilia Rossel, Humberto Soto, María Concepción Steta Gándara, Carlo Tassara, Varinia Tromben, Daniela Trucco, Heidi Ullmann, Jürgen Weller and Pablo Yanes for their valuable comments. Thanks are also owed for data and statistics contributed by Bernardo Atuesta, Ernesto Espíndola, Fabiola Fernández and Minhee Lee, and for contributions by Milena Lavigne and Luis Hernán Vargas to preliminary versions of the research. The opinions expressed in this document are the exclusive responsibility of the authors and may not reflect the opinions of the Organization. United Nations publication ISBN: 978-92-1-122018-6 (print) ISBN: 978-92-1-047940-0 (pdf) ISBN: 978-92-1-358107-0 (ePub) Sales No: E.19.II.G.8 LC/PUB.2019/5-P Distribution: G Copyright © United Nations, 2019 All rights reserved Printed at United Nations, Santiago S.19-00004 This publication should be cited as: L. Abramo, S. Cecchini and B. Morales, Social programmes, poverty eradication and labour inclusion: lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC Books, No. 155 (LC/PUB.2019/5-P), Santiago, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL), 2019. Applications for authorization to reproduce this work in whole or in part should be sent to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Publications and Web Services Division, [email protected]. Member States and their governmental institutions may reproduce this work without prior authorization, but are requested to mention the source and to inform ECLAC of such reproduction. Contents Foreword ............................................................................................................... 9 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 13 Chapter I Towards a virtuous circle of social protection and inclusion ...................... 17 Introduction ................................................................................................. 17 A. Social and labour inclusion: the twofold challenge of poverty eradication policies .......................................................... 20 B. Decent work as a response to the challenges of poverty and exclusion ....................................................................................... 24 1. Work is no guarantee of a way out of poverty .......................... 28 C. Perceptions of poverty and of its causes and solutions ................ 32 1. Studies on people’s perceptions of poverty: “laziness”, injustice and failed social programmes ...................................... 34 2. What the poor say: definitions, causes and solutions .............. 36 D. Social protection: making the switch from a vicious circle to a virtuous one ................................................................................. 39 E. Strengthening social policies and programmes .............................. 44 Bibliography ................................................................................................ 47 Chapter II Conditional cash transfer programmes and labour inclusion ..................... 51 Introduction ................................................................................................. 51 A. An overview of conditional cash transfer programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean ................................................ 52 4 Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) B. Effects of CCT programmes on labour inclusion ............................ 59 1. Long-term effects ........................................................................... 59 2. Short-term effects .......................................................................... 65 C. Effects on child labour ....................................................................... 84 D. From exit rules to exit strategies ....................................................... 90 E. Conclusions .......................................................................................... 95 Bibliography ................................................................................................ 97 Annex II.A1 ................................................................................................ 110 Chapter III Labour and productive inclusion programmes ........................................... 127 Introduction ............................................................................................... 127 A. Supply-side employment support programmes ......................... 133 1. Technical and vocational training ............................................. 137 2. Remedial education and school retention ................................ 142 B. Demand-side employment support programmes ........................ 145 1. Support for independent work .................................................. 145 2. Direct job creation ........................................................................ 151 3. Indirect job creation ..................................................................... 153 C. Labour intermediation services ....................................................... 155 D. Labour inclusion programmes for young people ......................... 158 E. Labour and productive inclusion programmes for persons with disabilities ............................................................. 162 F. Impact evaluations of labour and productive inclusion programmes ...................................................................... 165 1. Evidence around the world ........................................................ 165 2. Evidence for Latin America and the Caribbean ...................... 167 3. Supply-side employment support programmes ..................... 174 4. Demand-side support programmes .......................................... 181 5. Labour intermediation services ................................................. 185 G. Conclusions ........................................................................................ 187 Bibliography .............................................................................................. 192 Annex III.A1 .............................................................................................. 201 Chapter IV Social pensions and labour inclusion ............................................................ 233 Introduction ............................................................................................... 233 A. Trends in social pensions in Latin America and the Caribbean ............................................................................. 234 B. Evaluations of the impact of social pensions ............................... 243 1. Labour supply and integration of older persons .................... 244 2. Labour supply and integration of working-age persons and child labour ........................................................................... 247 Bibliography .............................................................................................. 249 Annex IV.A1 ............................................................................................... 252 ECLAC recent publications ............................................................................ 263 Social programmes, poverty eradication and labour inclusion... 5 Tables II.1 Latin America and the Caribbean (20 countries): conditional cash transfer programmes by country, 2017 ................................... 55 II.2 Latin America and the Caribbean (20 countries): recipients of the monetary transfers of CCT programmes in operation, by component, 2017 ........................................................................... 75 II.A1.1 Latin America (13 countries): evaluations of short-term effects of CCT programmes that analyse the labour dimension ........... 110 II.A1.2 Latin America and the Caribbean (20