The social structure of vulnerability

Notes on the institutional weakness of social protection in Paraguay

Abstract

The overlapping of vulnerabilities is a characteristic feature of the child and adolescent population, especially of disadvantaged social classes. In this sense, the risks identified are centered on the increase in poverty, resulting from the suspension of economic activities and the reduction of income during the strictest period of confinement. This plunged the families of disadvantaged social classes into a terrain of uncertainty and difficulty in securing food sustenance. The risk of social fragmentation, on the other hand, was another crucial aspect of the analysis, consisting of two features: institutional support from the State focuses assistance in a segregated manner and, many times, under clientelistic criteria; in specific groups, this ends up disarticulating all types of organization and collective action, thus undermining the strength of local cooperation initiatives. On the other hand, the affront to integrity is a serious factor of vulnerability, in which girls and adolescents are structurally victims, due to gender inequalities. The three risks synthesize living conditions associated with concrete vulnerabilities, built on the fragile terrain of poverty, precariousness and exclusion.