Social
Policy: Opportunities for All
The government’s main concern is for Chile ’s citizens. In the proposed 2006 budget, social spending was set to increase by 6% in real terms compared to 2005, and it will once again make up nearly 70% of total expenditures.
Education
A major effort is being made to prepare the new generations to face more effectively the requirements and opportunities that arise from globalisation, the knowledge society, and trade agreements signed by Chile .
As we said earlier, on May 7, 2003, a new constitutional guarantee came into force, extending free compulsory education from 8 to 12 years. In the same month, the Ministry of Education launched three initiatives: an intensive English-language program designed to ensure that, by 2010, all students graduating from secondary education will be fluent in that language; a digital literacy campaign that will train half-a-million adults in the use of computers and the Internet; an bonus financing for state schools that reduce their dropout rate. The full school day (including morning & afternoon classes) was extended to 75% of state-subsidised schools.
In addition, the government signed an agreement with the World Bank, under which both parties will each contribute US$50 million over a six-year period to scientific and technological development in Chile. This will permit the creation of advanced research centres, the training of top-level scientists, and cooperation with industry to add value to natural products, including new vaccines and strains, or innovations in mining and metallurgical products.
Health Care
Since its inauguration as a pilot plan in 2002, the plan AUGE (Universal Access System with Explicit Guarantees) has provided care to more than 50 000 individuals, with guaranteed coverage for 17 medical conditions. The program is a key element of the Health Care Reform being implemented by the government, which aims to ensure that all Chileans receive the health care they need, under equal conditions of access and quality.
The plan covers diagnosis and full treatment of some of the most serious diseases that affect the Chilean population, and which, owing to their high cost, have catastrophic effects on families. From mid-2005, the AUGE system will be extended to include 25 medical conditions and applied to entire population, without discrimination on the basis of age, gender, or ability to pay.
Housing
The priorities for housing policy include the reduction of the housing deficit, and improvement in the quality of dwellings. Through subsidies, it helps the poorest sectors of the population to acquire a home of their own.
Today, Chile has one million more dwellings than ten years ago, and the deficit has diminished by 43%. Of these dwellings, 90% are permanent houses, with electricity, drinking water, and sewage.
The Chile Barrio (Chile Neighbourhood) program seeks to resolves the situation of people living in urban and rural shantytowns by providing them with housing, improving their surroundings, and facilitating their insertion into the labour market.
An additional priority is to make Chile ’s cities and towns more integrated, safer, supportive, and equitable for their inhabitants. Similarly, efforts are also being made to recover Chile ’s urban heritage.
Labour
A Labour Law Reform came into effect in 2001, designed to eliminate the imbalance in worker-employer relations and to reinforce worker rights.
I has reduced the working week from 48 to 45 hours. In addition, it increases supervision, provides greater protection for the formation of trade unions, and improves collective bargaining procedures. Since the law came into force, a total of 1660 new unions have been set up.
Also, an unemployment insurance scheme was introduced in 2002. In case of job loss for any reason, this provide guaranteed and decreasing payments for a period of five months, funded by employers, workers and the State. By mid 2004, 2 813 000 workers had joined the program, equivalent to 45.8% of the workforce.
Poverty
One of the most important initiatives in the fight against poverty is the Chile Solidario program, which aims to raise 225 000 families out of extreme poverty by 2005. The program is particularly innovative because, rather than waiting for people to request aid, the State actively seeks those in need.
Professionals advise families about the network of public and private programs available for their benefit, and help them access these programs. As a result, they are able to tap into subsidies, social security and labour benefits, remedial education, training schemes, and the labour market.