|
|
|
|
| Social Impact of the Argentine Crisis | | | |  While Argentina continues on its road to recovery, the scars of a prolongedeconomic contraction remain visible on its society. The devastating impact of the economic crisis can be seen in the country's dramatic increase in poverty-which now stands around 55%--and high unemployment and underemployment rates. Poor families continue to struggle to provide their households with their basic needs.
During the crisis, the World Bank focused its analytical and lending support to help sustain Argentina's vital social services.
In the beginning of 2003, for example, the Bank approved a US$600 million loan to finance the "Heads of Household" program in Argentina, which provides heads of households with $150 Argentine pesos (about US$45) per month for households with children under the age of 18 or with disabled persons of any age.
In 2002, the Bank reallocated US$240 million from previous loans to finance social services such as health, education and community dining halls.
While the Bank recently approved new financing to support Argentina's efforts to restore economic growth and development, safeguarding social programs remains an important priority. To better understand the effects of Argentina's crisis on the country's social programs, the Bank has prepared a series of papers that analyze these effects in depth, including:
 Social Welfare
Results of national household survey designed to identify changes in income, consumption patterns, access to various social and other services, savings and payment patterns, labor market participation and reliance on formal and informal safety net mechanisms. Additionally, the survey sought to assess changes in mental and
emotional status of individuals.
Health
The paper presents the links between the country's general crisis and the health sector and states the situation of the two main health subsectors and reviews their current financial and operating conditions. It then presents evidence of changes experienced by the population, both in terms of health coverage and access to services, and discusses the expected impact of the crisis on the health status of the population. Finally, the document offers some brief conclusions.
Educational Process
How has the educational process been affected by the crisis? This paper examines the impact on coverage and enrollment; educational financing; the effects of delays in the payments of teachers' wages; compensatory programs; the production and use of information regarding education; and student learning. It should be noted that the limited availability of information has been a restriction for this study, as there does not exist a standard form or methodology to capture the real impact of the crisis on various educational processes.
Famine s
Infrastructure s
Basic Education s
Pension System s
sindicates the link is in Spanish |
|
|
|
RSS