Gendered Implications of Tax Reform in Latin America: Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica and Jamaica

In Latin American and Caribbean countries, poverty and inequality have been longstanding problems, and the momentous economic and social policy changes over the past two decades have done little to ameliorate them. The most effective means for reducing class- and gender-based poverty and inequality would be citizenship-based entitlements to basic (i.e. allowing basic subsistence) income support, healthcare, and education. In advanced industrial societies, public spending is an extremely important instrument for the alleviation of class- and gender-based poverty and inequality (Moller et al. 2003; Bradley et al. 2003; Huber and Stephens 2001), and it could potentially play a similar role in Latin America and the Caribbean. However, responsible, that is non-inflationary, financing of such programs requires a sound system of taxation, something that is scarce in developing countries, including in Latin America and the Caribbean. Systems of taxation on their part have important implications for class and gender equity. This chapter explores changes in the systems of taxation in four Latin American and Caribbean countries — Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and Jamaica — from the point of view of their gendered impact.