In the great majority of Latin American countries in the 2000s, economic growth took place and brought about improvements in almost all labour market indicators and consequent reductions in poverty rates. Across countries, economic growth was not all that mattered; external factors were...

This paper discusses the emergence of two new middles since the Cold War, namely middle-income countries and people living above absolute poverty but below a security-from poverty-line. The paper sets out what has happened. It is argued that although there has been substantial economic growth,...

The canonical approach to analysing the poverty impact of growth is based on the comparison of poverty before and after growth. Measurement tools that endorse this approach fail to capture the different experiences of poverty dynamics in the population: there can be groups of the population made...

Africa has come a long way since the economic turmoil of the 1980s, the decade of "structural adjustment". Growth has been strong, yet poverty remains high. Underlying the shortage of good livelihoods and high social inequality is the lack of diversification in Africa's economies-in contrast to...

Since 1994, a great deal has been accomplished. We argue that poverty reduction was temporarily sidelined in the 2000s. A series of shocks, especially the fuel and food price crisis of 2008, combined with poor productivity growth in agriculture and a weather shock, undermined progress in...

This study focuses on growth, poverty and inequality in Rwanda. We take a broad perspective, in two respects. First, we consider a long time period so as to compare the current situation with the pre-war situation, allowing us to assess whether the recent successes can be attributed to a...

During the 2000s Chile achieved rapid economic growth and improved most labour market indicators: the unemployment rate fell; the mix of employment by occupational position and sector improved; the educational level of the employed population, the percentage of registered workers, and labour...

During the 2000s, El Salvador experienced slow economic growth for Latin American standards. The country underwent a recession during the international crisis of 2008, but returned to pre-recession output level in 2011. Changes in labour market conditions were mixed. The unemployment rate fell,...

The Uruguayan story was one of declines in the early years of the 2000s in most indicators, followed by improvements in all of them. Economic growth was negative in the early years due to a severe economic crisis, positive and rapid thereafter except during the international crisis of 2008. Most...

Ghana is relatively rare among Sub-Saharan African countries in having had sustained positive growth every year since the mid-1980s. This paper analyses the nature of the growth and then presents an analysis of the evolution of both consumption poverty and non-monetary poverty outcomes over this...