Exclusion and inequality in Chile

• In Event: Social security pensions in Latin America: The struggle for inclusion and equality

Abstract

The paper analyzes Chile’s almost 40-year old experience with defined contribution, fully-funded pensions and privately administered pension system, and shows it led to a massive capital accumulation in the hands of the pension fund administrators and insufficient and unequal pensions for retirees. Since the transition to democracy in 1990, the pension’s regime has experienced marginal reforms that expanded the role of the state in the provision of pensions, but have not altered the systems’ structure, have not dealt with the insufficiency of pensions, and have facilitated the continuous accumulation of capital in the hands of the administrators. Argues that the current pension system is exclusionary and unjust and needs to be reformed

Author

• Silvia Borzutzky, Carnegie Mellon University