The evolution of Costa Rica's social sectors over the past decade has been dichotomous. On the one hand, economic growth has remained relatively high, however poverty and inequality have not declined (moreover, they have increased), and persistent employment challenges remain. On the other hand,...

Honduras has experienced moderate economic growth in the past decade, in line with the rest of the region. Despite this growth track record, limited opportunities for decent jobs for the majority of workers have resulted in stagnant poverty and inequality rates that are still the highest in...

El Salvador's development over the past decade has been dichotomous. On the one hand, economic growth has remained persistently low, employment and labor force participation have barely increased, and progress on poverty reduction has slowed. On the other hand, inequality has fallen, and shared...

Social spending in Guatemala needs to achieve efficiency gains and increase to minimum levels to meet basic human development objectives. Current levels are so low that fiscal reform (in revenue generation and spending allocation) is urgently needed so that the state can fulfill its mandated...

Nicaragua has had decent economic growth in the past decade, which has contributed to substantial poverty reduction (the largest in Central America), as well as improvements in human development indicators. Fiscal accounts have deteriorated recently, which may pose some challenges to the...