Structural Inequality in Latin America: Reflections on World Day of Social Justice
Social justice constitutes an essential principle aimed at ensuring the effective equality of rights and opportunities, so that all individuals may fully develop their potential and access a dignified life. Its foundation lies in reducing inequalities and removing the barriers that hinder the exercise of rights, recognising the existence of historical and structural inequalities that particularly affect certain groups. In this sense, it is not limited to combating poverty and exclusion, but rather serves as a pillar for building more peaceful, inclusive and cohesive societies, where well-being is a real and universal right.
In a context marked by the intensification of globalisation and profound structural transformations, persistent challenges remain, including recurrent financial crises, discrimination, insecurity, poverty, lack of access to basic services –education, housing and healthcare– unemployment and labour precariousness, as well as forms of exclusion and inequality both within and between States. In this context, and with the aim of strengthening efforts to confront the serious obstacles hindering the realisation of social justice worldwide, the international community has promoted various initiatives. On 26 November 2007, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 62/10, proclaiming 20 February of each year as World Day of Social Justice. Subsequently, on 10 June 2008, the International Labour Organization (ILO) unanimously adopted the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization.
Within this framework, Latin America has historically faced profound difficulties in achieving full employment, ensuring the sustainability of open societies integrated into the global economy, promoting social cohesion, and combating poverty and structural inequalities. The persistence of colonial legacies, the relative youth of its democracies – forged after prolonged and cyclical periods of dictatorship – and the various forms of foreign intervention that shaped the region’s political and economic trajectory, particularly during the second half of the twentieth century, have significantly conditioned its development processes. In this context, the construction of social justice has represented, and continues to represent, a complex and enduring challenge for Latin American societies.
Currently, the region remains the most unequal in the world. According to the Social Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2025 report by ECLAC, income concentration remains at extremely high levels: the richest 10 per cent account for 34.2 per cent of total income, while the poorest 10 per cent receive only 1.7 per cent. However, inequality in the region is not limited to income distribution; it constitutes a structural and multidimensional phenomenon, also linked to gaps in access to opportunities, education, employment and social protection. The report further highlights persistent low social mobility and weak social cohesion, factors that deepen existing asymmetries. The average Gini coefficient remains among the highest globally, surpassed only by that of Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2024, 25.5 per cent of the Latin American population – 162 million people – lived in income poverty, while extreme poverty affected 9.8 per cent – 66 million people. Although this represents a slight decrease compared to the previous year, it remains 2.1 per cent above the historic low reached in 2014, evidencing the persistence of structural gaps that hinder sustained progress in social justice.
These figures reflect the persistence of a deeply asymmetrical distributive structure in the region and the consolidation of a global pattern of structural disparities. While ECLAC reports a reduction in the percentage of people living below the poverty line, this is largely explained by real wage increases in some countries in 2024 – the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Mexico and Paraguay – while wealth concentration continues in the hands of a minority. Countries such as Colombia, Brazil and Panama remain among the most unequal in the region. In this sense, the current cycle of economic inequality, within a context of low growth and commercial and geopolitical tensions, reproduces and deepens other structural gaps.
An analysis of this issue must also consider the various axes structuring inequality –such as gender, ethnic-racial background, age, territory and disability– which influence the magnitude, persistence and reproduction of social gaps. The multiple dimensions of inequality are interconnected and mutually reinforcing, disproportionately affecting specific population groups. ECLAC emphasises that poverty in the region disproportionately impacts women, children and adolescents, persons with disabilities, and rural populations –where rates reach 39.1 per cent compared to 24.6 per cent in urban areas. Fewer than 40 per cent of persons with disabilities aged 15 to 59 participate in the labour force, compared to 75 per cent of those without disabilities. Gender inequalities affect half of the population and are shaped by the sexual division of labour and the social organisation of care: in 2022, only 53.5 per cent of women participated in the labour market, and among those outside the labour force, 56.3 per cent were exclusively engaged in unpaid domestic and care work, compared to 7.3 per cent of men. Furthermore, from the age of 65 onwards, women experience higher poverty levels than men, even when receiving pensions, and 70.3 per cent of those without any pension income live below the poverty line, highlighting the persistence of structural inequalities that hinder sustained advances in social justice.
The World Inequality Report published by the World Inequality Lab (WIL) –involving 200 researchers and led by economists Ricardo Gómez Carrera, Thomas Piketty, Lucas Chancel and Rowaida Mushrif– states that the richest 10 per cent in Latin America capture 57 per cent of total income, while the poorest 50 per cent receive only 8 per cent.
This marked concentration of resources and opportunities creates a complex web of interrelated gaps that translate into systematic exclusion, discriminatory practices and dynamics of social subordination. At the same time, it undermines institutional quality and strains democratic legitimacy, compromising the effective exercise of rights and equitable access to the conditions necessary for full citizenship. The 2024 Annual Report of the Special Rapporteurship on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights (REDESCA) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reaffirms that strengthening democracy in the region is fundamental for guaranteeing these rights. It also warns that their realisation is indispensable for genuine democratic debate and for preventing processes of institutional erosion. Effective access to rights such as education, healthcare, adequate housing, decent work and a healthy environment directly influences quality of life and determines real participation in public life. Conversely, the absence of inclusive and redistributive economic and social policies fuels citizen discontent, erodes trust in democratic institutions, weakens the rule of law and fosters authoritarian narratives promising immediate solutions without guaranteeing rights or democratic processes.
As the data show, this trend experienced only a partial reversal during the first fifteen years of the twenty-first century, when the region shifted towards progressive governments that prioritised reducing inequalities and expanding social rights. However, this progress has stalled due to the global hegemonic crisis and the strengthening of regressive, authoritarian and far-right forces that have gained ground in several countries, leading to one of the most significant periods of regression in human rights and social equality.
In Argentina, for example, the implementation of strong austerity policies has drastically reduced the presence of the State, developing a model of governance that departs from the democratic ideal of social equality and prioritises fiscal balance over general welfare. The consequences are clear: the impoverishment of workers, the suspension of public works and rising unemployment have resulted in poverty reaching 52.9 per cent in the first half of 2024, affecting 66.1 per cent of children under the age of 14. The homeless population in Buenos Aires has increased by 57 per cent over the past two years.
In many countries across the region, labour rights are increasingly curtailed under the banner of “modernisation” to attract investment, weakening collective bargaining, increasing job insecurity and consolidating a model that deepens inequality and concentrates wealth. Ecuador ranks among the three worst countries in the world for workers according to the ITUC Global Rights Index 2025, while Argentina follows a similar path with a new Labour Reform Bill aimed at flexibilising rights and limiting labour protections.
In contrast, other governments are advancing more protective labour policies. In Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum has promoted a gradual reduction of the working week from 48 to 40 hours between 2026 and 2030 without reducing wages. In Chile, working hours will gradually decrease to 40 by 2028. In Colombia, the government has implemented the highest wage increase in three decades (23.8 per cent). In Brazil, President Lula da Silva has proposed eliminating the 6×1 work scheme and reducing the weekly working time from 44 to 40 hours. These initiatives reflect regional efforts to strengthen social justice and improve workers’ quality of life.
Social justice is neither decreed nor confined to grand speeches; it is built in everyday life, in communities, and wherever people raise their voices for a fairer future. The structural challenges facing Latin America –extreme inequality, labour precariousness, gender gaps, poverty and territorial exclusion– require comprehensive policies linking the economy, labour, social protection and environmental sustainability. Only through institutional strengthening and renewed social pacts can real and sustainable equality be achieved.
Reducing inequality requires not only redistributive measures such as social transfers and minimum wage increases, but also pre-distributive policies ensuring effective access to economic, social, cultural and environmental rights. Transforming the narratives and structures that perpetuate inequality is urgent. Only then will social justice cease to be a promise and become a concrete practice, where democracy and equity stand as inseparable pillars of collective life.
Federica Carnevale, Project Manager at FIBGAR.
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