2016年拉美经济继续收缩，连续5年的经济下滑已显著影响到社会形势。社会发展指标的退步表现在贫困人口增加、工人失业率达到新高、就业质量下降、部分国家通货膨胀率大幅攀升、居民收入增长缓慢等方面。在财政收支趋紧的形势下，传统左翼政府的扩张性社会政策难以为继。在新制定的《2030年可持续发展议程》中，拉美国家对社会政策绩效进行了全面评估，在新的发展目标中尤其注重社会融入和不平等的治理等核心问题。
In 2016，the economic contraction in Latin America，which has lasted for five years，had a significant impact on social development，embodied in growing poverty-stricken population，unemployment rising，declining quality of job creation，climbing consumer price as well as slow income growth in some countries. Under the pressure of fiscal deficit，expansionary social policies implemented by the traditional left-wing government are no longer feasible. In the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda drafted in 2015，most countries in this region made an overall review of traditional social policies and focused more on the issues of social inclusion and inequality reduction.
