Number of poor in Latin America rose between 2013 and 2014

According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of poor in Latin America rose between 2013 and 2014. This was the first time in a decade that the region experienced an increase in absolute poverty. According to a report from the UNDP,

Our analysis shows a clear pattern: what determines people to be “lifted from poverty” (quality education and employment) is different from what “avoids their fallback into poverty” (existence of social safety nets and household assets).

This gap suggests that, alone, more economic growth is not enough to build “resilience”, or the ability to absorb external shocks, such as financial crisis or natural disasters, without major social and economic losses. We need to invest in the skills and assets of the poor and vulnerable — tasks that may take years, and in many cases, an entire generation.

I was thinking about this in terms of El Salvador. The country clearly falls short on the criteria needed to help people out of poverty. Economic growth is among the lowest in the region; few quality jobs are being created; and, while there has been an important push to support increased school attendance, it's not clear that the educational system has shown demonstrable improvement in the last few years.

On criteria two, there's been an improvement in terms of services provided to the poor and, while I am not positive, I would say that the existence of household assets should be supported with billions of dollars in remittances.