Social Spending and Income Redistribution in Argentina during the 2000s: The Increasing Role of Noncontributory Pensions

Abstract

Between 2003 and 2009, Argentina’s social spending as a share of gross domestic product increased by 7.6 percentage points. Benefit incidence analysis for 2003, 2006, and 2009 suggests that the contribution of cash transfers to the reduction of disposable income inequality and poverty rose markedly between 2006 and 2009, primarily due to the introduction of a new noncontributory pension program—known as the pension moratorium—in 2004. The redistributive impact of the expansion of public spending on education and health was also sizable and equalizing, but to a lesser degree. An assessment of fiscal funding sources puts the sustainability of the redistributive policies into question, unless nonsocial spending is significantly cut.