Despite the billions that the country invests in education, health, non-contributory pensions and social programs, the battle against inequality is lost.
This is confirmed by the latest index report of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
A research indicates that the average income of Costa Ricans has doubled in the last 25 years, from ¢ 3.8 million per year in 1990 to ¢ 7.7 million in 2015.
However, this increase does not reach the population as a whole, affecting women and girls, indigenous people, people with disabilities and the LGBT community.
According to the researchers, 20% of Costa Ricans with higher incomes concentrate 50.7% of the wealth, while the poorest people can only access to 3.6%. As consequence, other social problems appear, such as delinquency.
By 2015, women had an income of ¢ 5.5 million a year, which was half of what the average man earned.
For the researchers, government policies must be changed:
it is not possible for a country to achieve development if half the population, which are women, have no chance of achieving the same benefits as men.
Among the solutions they propose are:
-Deal with teenage pregnancies that force them to abandon their personal progress.
-Reduce the gender pay gap.
-Improve access to employment opportunities.