Estimating Poverty For Indigenous Groups In Chile By Matching Census And Survey Data

It is widely held that indigenous Chileans experience greater rates of poverty and indigence than non-indigenous Chileans, yet the evidence to date has been based on surveys that are not representative by ethnicity. In this paper, the authors use poverty mapping methodologies that are typically applied to geography to develop statistically precise estimates of poverty, indigence, poverty gaps, and indigence gaps for each of the eight indigenous groups recognized by Chilean law. They find that indigenous people experience higher rates of poverty and indigence and greater depth of poverty and indigence than non-indigenous people.