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dc.titleAssessing the Role of Tax-benefit Systems in Reducing the Gender Income Gap in Latin America
dc.contributor.authorDeza, María Cecilia
dc.contributor.authorDondo, Mariana
dc.contributor.authorJara, H. Xavier
dc.contributor.authorRodríguez Guerrero, David Arturo
dc.contributor.authorTorres, Javier
dc.contributor.orgunitGender and Diversity Division
dc.coverageLatin America
dc.date.available2025-01-02T00:01:00
dc.date.issue2025-01-02T00:01:00
dc.description.abstractThis paper aims to assess the extent to which cash transfers, direct taxes, and social contributions help to reduce gender income inequalities in seven Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. We apply microsimulation techniques to household survey data and allocate incomes within the household, assuming that each person retains the income they receive (e.g., earnings, benefits targeting mothers) and pays taxes and social insurance contributions on an individual basis according to each countrys rules. Then, we compare gender income ratios based on market (before taxes and benefits) and disposable (after taxes and benefits) income. Our results show that, at the bottom of the distribution, tax-benefit systems significantly reduce gender income disparities in most countries due to the effect of social assistance benefits received by mothers in poor households. Additionally, we find that women have substantially higher poverty rates than men based on individual disposable income. Gender differences in poverty fade away when income is pooled at the couple level and, even more so, at the household level.
dc.format.extent53
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0013356
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Assessing-the-Role-of-Tax-benefit-Systems-in-Reducing-the-Gender-Income-Gap-in-Latin-America.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectTaxation
dc.subjectTax Increase
dc.subjectCost-Benefit Analysis
dc.subjectGender
dc.subjectGender Gap
dc.subjectWomen
dc.subjectIncome Tax
dc.subjectWage Gap
dc.subjectSocial Security
dc.subject.jelcodeD31 - Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
dc.subject.jelcodeJ16 - Economics of Gender • Non-labor Discrimination
dc.subject.jelcodeH24 - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
dc.subject.jelcodeI32 - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
dc.subject.jelcodeI38 - Government Policy • Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
dc.subject.keywordstaxes;benefits;microsimulation;gender gap
dc.typeWorking Papers
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-WP-01652
idb.operationRG-T3729
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