The experience of building a Social Protection System in Chile

Conference on Horizontal Cooperation in Social Protection Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago

September 11 and 12, 2008

Pablo Coloma CorreaExecutive Director

Solidarity and Social Investment Fund – FOSIS

Ministry of Planning – Chile

“Contributing to the country’s efforts to overcome poverty, supporting the original responses to issues,

areas and work approaches, complementary to those dealt with by other State agencies ”

Some data about FOSIS

• Founded in 1990• Works in the whole country through 15

regional and 20 provincial offices• Manages an annual budget of

approximately US$ 100,000,000

• 800 persons work for FOSIS• In 2007, FOSIS attended 130,000

families through the Puente Program and 80,000 individuals (men and women) through its program supply

Context of the Puente Program

Since the mid-nineties, the reduction of extreme poverty (indigence) has been slowing down.

Evolution of Poverty and Indigence in Chile - Socioeconomic

Characterization Survey 2000 (on total population)

13,0%

9,0% 7,6%5,7% 5,6% 5,6%

25,6%23,8%

20,1%17,5%

16,0% 14,6%

38,6%

32,8%

27,7%

23,2%21,6% 20,2%

0,0%

5,0%10,0%

15,0%

20,0%25,0%

30,0%

35,0%40,0%

45,0%

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000

Indigence Poverty Total poverty

• Targeting social policy was successful, but deficient for the “intra poverty” perspective: The poorest did not demand the offer of services created for them.

The reason? Delinking social networks.

• In response, the Puente Program arises which aims to bring the State to families living in indigent conditions. Today the requirement for entry into the Puente Program is to belong to the 5% most vulnerable families.

Context of the Puente Program

“We want to install practices of mutual support to integrate them in their local community, give them access -through expressed demand- to social benefits targeted at the poorest, and link them to existing social networks, so that they can achieve an income which is superior to the line of indigence.”

The Puente Program

• Working for two years through personalized support of each family in 7 dimensions: Identity, Education, Health, Family Dynamics, Housing, Work and Income

• Coordinate and arrange the public supply offer around the families’ needs

• Implement the Program with strategic partners (Municipalities)

• Being the entrance to the “Chile Solidario” Social Protection System

This means:

The Puente Program is the basis for the emergence of the Chile Solidario law enacted in 2004.

The Chile Solidario System, under the coordination of the Ministry of Planning, provides psychosocial support to each family and ensures preferential access to cash subsidies and governmental social programs.

The law guarantees access and maintenance of monetary subsidies: Family Allowance, Pension Assistances (Old Age and Disability), Allowances for Consumption of Drinking Water, Grant for School Retention, Chile Solidario Subsidies (Protection Voucher and Exit Voucher)

Puente Program and Chile Solidario

The implementation of the Puente Program stressed the FOSIS management: The regular programmatic offer had to

be adapted to the requirements of indigent families.

FOSIS and the consolidation of Chile Solidario

• We adapted the design and the way of implementing our programs; e.g. Income Generation System

• We adopted the perspective of life cycles; e.g. Youth Employability Program

• We softened the delivery mechanisms of existing services; e.g. Social Development Program

• We generated a specific offer to cover areas not addressed by FOSIS and other State Agencies; e.g. Housing Program, Production for Family Subsistence Program

Some answers:

• The Program achieves a better articulation between supply and demand for services and a better targeting of preferential offer for vulnerable families:– Education:

• National Scholar Grants: Assurance of 3 daily meals, dental care, clothing, school material supplies

• Subsidy for school retention– Health: PAP test– Housing: Access to solidarity funds– Work: Preferential offer by the National Service for Training and Labor– Ministry of Planning: Preferential offer of FOSIS programs, such as

Housing, Youth Employability and Family Subsistence– Preferential access to vouchers: in case electricity cost rises, during the

winter months, among others– Improved access to specific Family Subsidies among pregnant mothers

and children under 18

FOSIS and the consolidation of Chile Solidario

• Obvious increase in the awareness of the available public offer• Notable increase in the access to education of children between 4

and 15 years • Increased number of enrolments in the public health system, more

visits for preventive care• Significant improvements in projecting into the future by the families

and in the perception of their abilities to put actions in place• Significant improvements in the access to work and consequently in

the families’ income

Results: The World Bank

The first analysis of the impact assessment being conducted by the World Bank indicates that for rural areas, Chile Solidario accounts for a 35% reduction of indigence and an 18% reduction of poverty.

Evolution of Poverty and Indigence in Chile - Socioeconomic Characterization Survey 2006 (on total population)

13,0%

9,0%7,6%

5,7% 5,6% 5,6% 4,7%3,2%

25,6%23,8%

38,6%

32,8%

27,7%

23,2%21,6%

20,2%18,7%

13,7%14,0%

10,5%

14,6%16,0%

17,5%20,1%

0,0%

5,0%

10,0%

15,0%

20,0%

25,0%

30,0%

35,0%

40,0%

45,0%

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2003 2006

Indigence Poverty Total poverty

Chile Solidario

Proactive, regarding the risks faced by families: Capable of activating social benefits of universal nature against various types of vulnerability

Today: The Chilean Social

Protection System presents itself

• It provides support in the confrontation of critical situations (unemployment, diseases, disability, old age, poverty)

• It promises to empower people to fulfill the roles of the different stages in their life cycle

• It modifies the conditions in the families’ environment (expanding the structure of opportunities and making them accessible)

• It addresses the specific conditions that explain vulnerability of people• It works in the local territory in order to correct inequities that affect the welfare of

individuals and communities• It inclines towards a potential universal coverage, but with different mechanisms of

access and provision of services

Social Protection System in Chile