Despite the fact that inequality and poverty are closely linked, for several decades multilateral organizations, government and even development agencies have prioritized economic growth and the fight against poverty as the objectives of their debates and policies, leaving inequality to one side. As a result, efforts to tackle inequality have been insufficient. Oxfam has calculated that if inequality in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region were to be reduced by five points between 2011 and 2019, some 17.4 million people could move out of poverty. If the opposite were to occur, a five-point increase could result in an additional 18 million people living in poverty.

This report explores the causes of inequality in the LAC region, the impacts it has, and makes recommendations for how it can be tackled.