Insufficiency of sufficiency: monetary transfers in Uruguay during pandemic

Abstract

In Uruguay, in March 2020, a new government assumed and the first cases of COVID were announced. Since that moment, several measures were developed to atend social impacts of the pandemic.  Some of them, were through social security, basically in attention to unemployed people. At the same time, cash transfers were developed and widely disseminated through public media and favorably valued by the government. Going beyond the announcements, is the purpose of this article, trying to visualize quality and quantity of protection provided by the monetary benefits, as well as their legitimacy. The analysis is based on secondary sourced, specifically electoral and government documents and public conferences realized by government authorities. It´s observed that only big numbers are announced (of covered persons and total amounts invested) but benefits amounts each household and/or person are low. In addition, the announcements are for short terms, and also have legitimacy problems, given they are understood as generating dependency.  This analysis also shows aspects that indicate the relevance of continuing social protection problematize in Latin America.