POBREZA EN COLOMBIA: TIPOS DE MEDICIÓN Y EVOLUCIÓN DE POLÍTICAS ENTRE LOS AÑOS 1950 Y 2000 (Article published in Spanish)

Abstract

The phenomenon of the poverty in Colombia is a complex net of interlaced factors. The current definitions are circumscribed to internationally standard indicators that are based on the level of income and unsatisfied basic necessities, however, the election of these indexes can bring exclusion and inclusion biases deviating the result of the public policies. Since 1930 governments have worried about the creation of programs that reduce the poverty, but only since the fifties the results began to be seen. In the last 50 years, levels of poverty have decreased, but in the last decade, the structural change and the recession of 1998 and 1999, retarded 11 years the quality of life of the Colombians. The economic literature and the institutions like the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank suggest some alternatives to leave the problem, but each country is unique and it should adapt their policies to its own context.