Building an Equitable Society in Colombia

Colombia’s high level of inequality is a core constraint to economic growth and social progress. The country has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the world, the second highest among 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (...

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Main Author: World Bank
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/686821635218586591/Main-Report
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36535
id okr-10986-36535
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-365352021-11-11T05:11:02Z Building an Equitable Society in Colombia World Bank INEQUALITY HUMAN DEVELOPMENT LABOR MARKET PUBLIC FINANCE FISCAL POLICY POVERTY REDUCTION SUBNATIONAL GOVERNANCE CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT VULNERABLE POPULATION CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE VALUE CHAIN Colombia’s high level of inequality is a core constraint to economic growth and social progress. The country has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the world, the second highest among 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and the highest among all OECD countries. The disparities in income across adults grow from gaps that open early in life in opportunities for high-quality childhood development, education, and health care services. Inequality in access to good jobs further amplifies these gaps, making Colombia among the countries where inequalities are the most persistent across generations. Longstanding inequality across regions overlaps with the large gaps in welfare between Afro-descendants and indigenous Colombians and the rest of the population. The COVID-19 pandemic has further amplified disparities and threatens to have prolonged negative effects, but this is just one of many potential extreme shocks, including climate change, related disruptions, that could substantially widen the inequality gaps. Current tax and transfer policies at best have only a modest positive impact on these imbalances, so there is clearly ample potential to improve the redistributive role of fiscal policy in Colombia. Policy reforms across many areas could help to chart a more equitable future for the country. 2021-11-10T17:04:27Z 2021-11-10T17:04:27Z 2021-10-26 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/686821635218586591/Main-Report http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36535 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work Economic & Sector Work :: Other Poverty Study Latin America & Caribbean Colombia
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic INEQUALITY
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
LABOR MARKET
PUBLIC FINANCE
FISCAL POLICY
POVERTY REDUCTION
SUBNATIONAL GOVERNANCE
CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT
VULNERABLE POPULATION
CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE
VALUE CHAIN
spellingShingle INEQUALITY
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
LABOR MARKET
PUBLIC FINANCE
FISCAL POLICY
POVERTY REDUCTION
SUBNATIONAL GOVERNANCE
CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT
VULNERABLE POPULATION
CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE
VALUE CHAIN
World Bank
Building an Equitable Society in Colombia
geographic_facet Latin America & Caribbean
Colombia
description Colombia’s high level of inequality is a core constraint to economic growth and social progress. The country has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the world, the second highest among 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and the highest among all OECD countries. The disparities in income across adults grow from gaps that open early in life in opportunities for high-quality childhood development, education, and health care services. Inequality in access to good jobs further amplifies these gaps, making Colombia among the countries where inequalities are the most persistent across generations. Longstanding inequality across regions overlaps with the large gaps in welfare between Afro-descendants and indigenous Colombians and the rest of the population. The COVID-19 pandemic has further amplified disparities and threatens to have prolonged negative effects, but this is just one of many potential extreme shocks, including climate change, related disruptions, that could substantially widen the inequality gaps. Current tax and transfer policies at best have only a modest positive impact on these imbalances, so there is clearly ample potential to improve the redistributive role of fiscal policy in Colombia. Policy reforms across many areas could help to chart a more equitable future for the country.
format Report
author World Bank
author_facet World Bank
author_sort World Bank
title Building an Equitable Society in Colombia
title_short Building an Equitable Society in Colombia
title_full Building an Equitable Society in Colombia
title_fullStr Building an Equitable Society in Colombia
title_full_unstemmed Building an Equitable Society in Colombia
title_sort building an equitable society in colombia
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2021
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/686821635218586591/Main-Report
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36535
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