According to a study done by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Uruguay is the country with the best income distribution in Latin America. The study predicts that poverty will remain at 14%, as in 2008, or may even decline.

It also highlights government actions, such as Equity and Emergency Plan, that prevented poverty from increasing in the period 2002 to 2008: "It is clear that poverty would have increased much more in the absence of cash transfer systems”. The study shows that Uruguay is one of the countries with the best income distribution in the region, according to most criteria.

The fact that the difference between the richest and the poorest income declined in 2008 makes Uruguay a less uneven country. The study also shows that, in Uruguay, social spending is increasing in an order of $ 1800 per capita annually.

(18, 19 November 2009)