Uruguay’s Social Policy Response to Covid-19: Strong Fundamentals, Selective Expansion

Abstract

Uruguay’s social policy response to Covid-19 built on a strong social protection system and a favorable social situation that existed before the pandemic arrived. The country’s favorable position in the region enabled the government to gradually reformulate key existing social policies to cover a broad proportion of the population. The newly installed government’s response occurred within the country’s structurally divided social protection architecture, which covers both formal workers and families not covered by the social security system. However, efforts in the two parts of the system have not been equally effective and there remains a portion of the population not covered by any of these social protection policies.