Analysis
In the Media

At the metalworking shop in San Lorenzo, a worker named Marcos has held the same position for eleven years. His salary covers the basic basket of goods, but it isn’t enough to pay for his seventeen-year-old son’s education or a mortgage. The company operates on tight margins because the total cost of each formal employee exceeds their take-home pay by more than half, so it avoids expanding its workforce.

Despite GDP growth and a decline in poverty to 16 percent, high levels of informal employment (62.5 percent) and low productivity prevent this economic boom from reaching household budgets. The concentrated agro-export model hinders improvements in real income for most households.