Indigence and the Informal Sector: A Model For Understanding The Economic Logic Underlying Urban Domestic Units In Chile

This paper explores the symbiotic relationship between indigence and the informal sector in Chile. Based on two complimentary studies of the PUENTE Program, which aims at the eradication of extreme poverty, and building on a model that explained the logic of the rural domestic units, the paper proposes a new model for understanding the economic logic underlying the urban domestic units (UDUs). These units represent the urban and semi-rural families living in extreme poverty or indigence. The paper argues that unless anti-poverty policies and efforts are grounded in theories emerging from the realities of the target population, their results will be grim at best.