Abstract

This paper provides a comparative overview of social policies between two countries, Spain and Chile, analyzed from two substantial aspects of social policy, social spending and tax policy. Each of these policy instruments reflects the overall development strategy of a country, but most countries have growth, equity, or employment creation and poverty reduction as their primary objectives (Prasad 2006). The aim of this paper is to compare the social policies in Spain and Chile using two Social Policy Index (SPI) sub-indexes in two stages previously defined 2004 – 2006 and 2009 – 2011. The analysis shows the effects of the economic crisis on social spending (that includes health, education, housing, social protection and social welfare) and tax policy. The results show variations in social policy, before and after the global economic crisis, in each country and its impact on the design of budgets, social spending foresight, and have involved the creation of new tax rates and changes in existing ones.