Those Latin American Governments Forgot

Identifying and supporting vulnerable populations other than 'the poor' is much more challenging

Covid-19 is making pre-existing inequalities and vulnerabilities worse in Latin America. While the ‘urban poor’ were a clearly identified vulnerable group, there are other groups the region’s governments have forgottten in their responses. This week we identify who else is at risk.

Among population groups most vulnerable to the pandemic are the poor, and we identified last week how poverty had become an increasingly urban problem.

The urban nature of poverty increased the exposure of those groups to the health, social and economic crises unleashed by Covid-19.

Most government support in response to the pandemic consisted in cash transfers and limited schemes linked to formal employment. Identifying poor populations is relatively straightforward, at least in theory.  However, identifying and supporting other vulnerable populations is much more challenging.

Yet, these groups req…