In two decades, a process of democratization occurred in Latin America, leading tonew public policies that have helped reduce inequality and poverty. Government programs hadbeen set up for that purpose, in a first stage through conditional cash transfer programs, and ina second stage through income policies to wage adjustment. Not all the countries followed thesepolicies, therefore, the paper explores in a counterfactual analysis, the trends that have emergedfrom these reforms and how they have reshaped the welfare systems of Brazil, Argentina, Chile,Colombia and Mexico.