Chile, economic miracle, but… what’s about well-being?

Abstract

Chile has experienced an economic miracle in recent decades. Income inequality decreased, per capita income increased, and the poverty rate was substantially reduced. In 2019, social distress in important segments of the population was evident; the government, international organizations and experts did not anticipate and could not explain it with their models of social progress. This research argues that frequently used indicators of economic development are insufficient to capture the well-being situation of the population and to appreciate social progress. Subjective well-being data is used to show that Chile constitutes a case of rapid economic growth with no well-being improvement.