In the past 15 years, Chile has undertaken major reforms in nearly every area of its government and economy, including innovative reforms in education, health care, low-income housing, and social security. As a result, it has experienced extraordinary improvements in social indicators such as life expectancy, nutrition, and infant and child mortality rates, a remarkable achievement considering that these were years of political upheaval, economic instability, and fiscal constraints. The social policies and structural reforms which contributed to these improvements, the ways in which they were implemented, and their results, are examined in this book. A central theme in the analysis is the concept of targeting, the process of insuring that programs to alleviate poverty actually reach the poor — one of the hardest tasks developing countries face. Chapter 1 briefly reviews the economic and social context of the reforms. Chapters 2 through 5 describe, respectively, reforms in education, health and nutrition programs and delivery systems, the housing sector, and the social security system; each chapter includes an overview of pre-reform situation, a review of the reforms and how they were implemented, an assessment of observed and expected results, and a summary. Chapter 6 focuses on the implementation and impact of decentralization efforts, emphasizing the new role which municipalities and the private sector play in providing social services. Finally, Chapter 7 summarizes main social reforms, key thoughts, and lessons learned, which could be invaluable to policymakers in other countries contemplating or implementing similar reforms.
