Las continuas mejoras en la distribución del ingreso en Argentina entre 2003 y 2015

Abstract

For Argentina, the period that extends from 2003 to 2015 can be characterised as one of economic growth, improvement of labour conditions and extension of social policy and the social security system. During these years, the distribution of incomes improved continuously, which implied a reversion of the regressive trend that this dimension had since the last dictatorship (1976-1983). The goal of this article is to analyse the evolution of the distribution of family and individual incomes during this period, trying to acknowledge its association with varied factors, such as the labour market dynamics, labour and non-labour incomes. The analysis is based on a periodization grounded on the macroeconomic dynamic and the evolution of the variables under study, which allows identifying three sub-periods. The main source of information is the Permanent Household Survey (EPH-INDEC).

The study allows to conclude that the lesser inequality observed in the family income distribution is not only positively associated to a more equal distribution of labour incomes but also to the differential effect of growing occupation as well as changes in the rate of economic activity and a drop of labour precariousness. Also, the extension of the coverage of the pension system and the growth of real pension incomes is essential to the explanation of falling inequality. Social policy (especially monetary transfers) also had a positive –yet less important– role.