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2016 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

8. Middle Classes and Education in Latin America

Authors : Osvaldo Larrañaga, María Eugenia Rodríguez

Published in: Innovation and Inclusion in Latin America

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan US

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Abstract

Other chapters in this book have strongly emphasized education as a key element in promoting productivity and, consequently, economic growth. In particular, it has been said that education in science and technology is necessary for promoting innovation. But education is also important for social inclusiveness. This chapter explores the connection between education and inclusion through the role of private schools in Latin America. As will be seen, the region’s middle classes are seeking to improve opportunities for their children by leaving public schools for private institutions. The result is increasing inequality in societies as a whole.

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previous chapter Integration, Productivity, and Inclusion in Mexico: A Macro Perspective

Definitions of the middle class are discussed below.

See Birdsall et al. (2000), Easterly (2001), Solimano (2008), Birdsall (2010), ECLAC (2010), Torche and López-Calva (2010), Cárdenas et al. (2011), Lora and Fajardo (2011), and OECD (2012).

All the country averages shown in the text are simple averages, not weighted by the population of each country. It should be noted that the results differ from those in the World Bank Report as more recent household surveys were used and also because of differences in income thresholds and between the ways that household surveys are processed by the ECLAC (this study) and by the SEDLAC (World Bank Report).

The classification used here is an approximation, as it is based on a single-dimension approach (monetary income) that is insufficient for characterizing complex social categories. Also, it should be taken into account that there is a degree of discretionality in the definition of the cutout thresholds used here, that the surveys underestimate income levels in proportions that vary across countries, and that the exchange rate adjusted for PPP may be affected by factors that hamper the comparability of measurements among countries.

These are Shanghai (China), Hong Kong (China), and Macau (China).

It should be noted that these data come from surveys and are subject to sampling errors.

See http://sedlac.econo.unlp.edu.ar/esp/index.php.

This reflects the population distribution shown in Table 8.1.

It is important to note that these indicators are on a scale of 0–100, while the OECD uses indicators that have been standardized by the mean and standard deviation of the relevant variables.

Table 8.1 shows that the combined middle-class and high-income brackets amount to 45 % of the total student population, which is the average for the eight regional countries included in the study.

The countries with highest participation in private schools are the Netherlands, Belgium, and Ireland. While in the Netherlands admission tests are the norm, in Belgium (a neighboring country to the Netherlands) they are the exception. Private schools in Ireland tend to have a Catholic orientation and families are expected to belong to that religion, while in Belgium a similar amount of both public and private schools ask that families accept their philosophical or pedagogic orientation.

Clearly, the ultimate effect of education on equity hinges on quality. If the quality of education is poor, concentrating resources on the poorest students does not do much to help equity.

The PISA tests were administered to another 23 non-OECD countries. The relative ranking of Latin America does not vary much when all of these countries are taken into account, while two other cases (Thailand and Indonesia) join the ranks of “outliers.”

A cross-country regression analysis confirms the lack of correlation between the percentage of private school enrollment and the concentration index for the region.

Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and China (Shanghai) achieve comparable or better results, but there are cultural differences that make it difficult to compare their education systems with those of other countries.

Other elements of education in Latin America call for reform or strengthening, such as the expansion of preschool education or early teacher training. However, these are side issues within education systems rather than issues specific to the middle classes that are the focus of this study.

Birdsall, N. (2010, March). The (indispensable) middle class in developing countries; or, the rich and the rest, not the poor and the rest. Center for Global Development, Working Paper 207.

Birdsall, N., Graham, C., & Petinatto, S. (2000, August). Stuck in the tunnel: Is globalization muddling the middle class? Center on Social and Economic Dynamics, Working Paper 14.

Cárdenas, M., Kharas, H., & Henao, C. (2011). Latin America’s global middle class. Working Paper, Global Economy and Development at Brookings.

De la Torre, A., Alain, I., & Schmukler, S. (2012). Financial development in Latin America and the Caribbean: The road ahead. Washington, DC: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Easterly, W. (2001). The middle class consensus and economic development. Journal of Economic Growth, 6, 317–335.CrossRef

ECLAC (UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean). (2010). Panorama social 2010. Santiago: ECLAC.

Franco, R., Martín, H., & León, A. (Coordinators). (2010). Las clases medias en América Latina. Mexico City: Siglo XXI.

López-Calva, L. F., & Lustig, N. (Eds.). (2010). Declining inequality in Latin America: A decade of progress? Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.

López-Calva, L. F., & Ortiz Juarez, E. (2011a). A vulnerability approach to the definition of the middle class. Policy Research Working Paper 5902. Washington, DC: World Bank.

López-Calva, L. F., Rigolini, J., & Torche, F. (2011b). Is there such a thing as middle class values?: Class differences, values and political orientations in Latin America. Policy Research Working Paper 5847. Washington, DC: World Bank.

Lora. E., & Fajardo, J. (2011). Latin America middle classes: The distance between perception and reality. IDB Working Paper Series 275. Washington, DC: IDB.

OECD (Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development). (2011). Latin American economic outlook: How middle class is Latin America. Towards an OECD Skills Strategy.

OECD. (2012). Better skills, better jobs, better lives: A strategic approach to skills policies. Public and private schools. How management and funding relate to their socio-economic profile.

Solimano, A. (2008). The middle class and the development process. Document prepared as part of series Macroeconomía del Desarrollo. No. 65. Santiago: ECLAC.

Torche, F., & López-Calva, L. F. (2010). Stability and vulnerability of the Latin American middle class. In K. Newman (Ed.), Dilemmas of the middle class around the world. New York: Oxford University Press.

World Bank. (2012). Economic mobility and the rise of the middle class in Latin America. Washington, DC: World Bank.

Title: Middle Classes and Education in Latin America
Authors: Osvaldo Larrañaga
María Eugenia Rodríguez
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan US
Book: Innovation and Inclusion in Latin America
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-59681-9

Electronic ISBN: 978-1-137-59682-6

Copyright Year: 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59682-6_8