Progress for women in Latin America and the Caribbean over the last few decades has been impressive. Many women now take center stage in the arts, business, music, politics, science and the sports world. Laws equally protect women, and the increase in their labor force participation has been rapid, rising 17 percentage points in the 25 years between 1990-2015 to more than … [Read more...] about Gender Inequality in Latin America: The Long Road Ahead
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Can Games Boost Math Learning For Poor Kids?
Aaron Pinto, age 11, always loved math. He just wasn't very good at it. He stumbled with multiplication, fractions and decimals, refused to use pencil and paper, and made mistake after mistake as he tried to work things out on his fingers or in his head. Frustrated, at times even depressed, he couldn't seem to find a way forward. But Aaron's problems, if overwhelming, … [Read more...] about Can Games Boost Math Learning For Poor Kids?
Cash Transfer Programs: Challenging the Welfare Myth
Do welfare programs create dependency? For decades, that question has roiled the United States where supporters call such programs an essential lifeline for the poor and critics condemn them as encouraging laziness and the welfare trap. Latin America and the Caribbean is no stranger to the debate, especially as it concerns conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs. Those … [Read more...] about Cash Transfer Programs: Challenging the Welfare Myth
Protecting Conditional Cash Transfers
Conditional cash transfers are powerful tools of social progress in Latin America and the Caribbean. They have reduced short-term poverty for tens of millions of people by providing a monthly stipend and have helped break the intergenerational transmission of poverty by linking financial assistance to behaviors that enhance human capital, like school attendance and health … [Read more...] about Protecting Conditional Cash Transfers
How Political Polarization Holds Latin America Back
There are countries where there is a great deal of consensus on issues of national importance, and countries where that consensus is lacking, where the population is divided, distrustful of political opponents, and unwilling to compromise. The latter are polarized societies, and their cleavages lead to worse outcomes in a whole gamut of areas, ranging from greater insecurity … [Read more...] about How Political Polarization Holds Latin America Back