How's life in Uruguay? Historical performance and an assessment of well-being outcomes

This chapter uses the OECD framework for measuring well-being to diagnose strengths and weaknesses of different dimensions of well-being in Uruguay. It starts with a review of Uruguay’s historical performance focusing on the effects of the 2002 financial crisis and subsequent expansion in the following decade. It then presents the well-being outcomes found in the “OECD How’s Life?” framework. From an international perspective, well-being outcomes in the country are better than could be expected for many areas, including life satisfaction, environmental quality, health, trust, social network support, literacy and access to improved sanitation. However, some areas remain a challenge, such as child poverty, educational attainment, youth employment and personal security. While material conditions are generally high and income inequalities are comparatively low for the region, inequality remains a problem, with children and young people in particular at risk of social exclusion.