The COVID-19 pandemic brought a halt to the expansion of Latin America’s middle class and pushed millions back into poverty. Reversing this pattern requires addressing the region’s vulnerability to economic shocks and strengthening countries’ resilience.
WASHINGTON, DC – Global poverty rose last year for the first time since 1998 as the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic pushed an additional 97 million people below the international threshold of $1.90 per day. At first glance, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) appears to have fared relatively well: three million newly poor people as a result of the pandemic, compared to 58 million in South Asia. But poverty in LAC demands more attention than the headline statistic suggests.
WASHINGTON, DC – Global poverty rose last year for the first time since 1998 as the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic pushed an additional 97 million people below the international threshold of $1.90 per day. At first glance, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) appears to have fared relatively well: three million newly poor people as a result of the pandemic, compared to 58 million in South Asia. But poverty in LAC demands more attention than the headline statistic suggests.