Community-Poverty Monitoring Report of Urundel and Tandil,

Argentina

This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the PEP Asia-CBMS Network with
support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)-Canada and the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA)

Final Report
November, 2012

Produced by: Institute of Economics

Instituto de Economa, Facultad de Ciencias Econmicas, UNICEN

Table of Contents

1. General profile .....................................................................................................................8

2. Demography .......................................................................................................................14
Migration............................................................................................................................16
3. Core Indicators ...................................................................................................................17
3.1. Female headed households ........................................................................................17
3.2. Young mothers ...........................................................................................................19
3.3. Nutrition .....................................................................................................................21
Hunger................................................................................................................................21
Child nutrition ....................................................................................................................24
3.4. Education....................................................................................................................25
3.5. Mortality rate in Children and pregnant .....................................................................29
3.6. Housing conditions .....................................................................................................31
3.7. Unemployment ..........................................................................................................35
3.8. Social assistance .........................................................................................................36
4. Analysis of survey results ...................................................................................................40
4.1. Work & business.........................................................................................................40
4.2. Health .........................................................................................................................45
4.3. Education....................................................................................................................46
4.4. Community and politics participation ........................................................................49
4.5. Religion.......................................................................................................................50
4.6. Civility .........................................................................................................................51
4.7. Amenities ...................................................................................................................52
4.8. Self-perceived situation, expectations and needs ......................................................54
4.9. Family planning ..........................................................................................................58
4.8. Elderly..............................................................................................................................60
4.10. Disabled members ..................................................................................................61
5. Summary of research findings ............................................................................................64
6. Policy Recommendations ...................................................................................................65
Annex 1 Measures of nutrition ................................................................................................67
Annex 2 Additional sources of income and access to programs ..............................................70
Annex 3 Health problems ........................................................................................................72
Recent health problems .....................................................................................................72

2
 Chronic diseases .................................................................................................................73

Index of Graphs

Graph 1. GIS Tandil .......................................................................................................................8

Graph 2. Pictures of Tandil ...........................................................................................................9
Graph 3. GIS Urundel .................................................................................................................11
Graph 4. Satellite Picture of Urundel .........................................................................................11
Graph 5. Pictures of Urundel Town ............................................................................................12
Graph 6 - Population pyramid in Argentina 2001 ....................................................................15
Graph 7 - Population pyramid in Tandil*....................................................................................15
Graph 8 - Population pyramid in Urundel* ................................................................................16
Graph 9 BMI by age Tandil ...................................................................................................24
Graph 10 BMI by age Urundel ..............................................................................................24
Graph 11 - Work: Industry and kind of job - Tandil ....................................................................41
Graph 12 - Work: Industry and kind of job - Urundel .................................................................42
Graph 13 - Amount of hours worked per week - Tandil .............................................................43
Graph 14 - Amount of hours worked per week - Urundel ..........................................................43
Graph 15 - Regular and excessive hours.....................................................................................44
Graph 16 - Industries with long working days ............................................................................45
Graph 17 - General education profile - Tandil ............................................................................47
Graph 18 - General education profile - Urundel .........................................................................48
Graph 19 - Religion - Tandil ........................................................................................................50
Graph 20 - Religion - Urundel .....................................................................................................51
Graph 21 - Self-perceived social class - Tandil and Urundel .......................................................55
Graph 22 - Self-perceived situation and expectations - Tandil ...................................................55
Graph 23 - Self-perceived situation and expectations - Urundel ................................................56
Graph 24 - Use of contraceptive methods - Tandil.....................................................................58
Graph 25 - Use of contraceptive methods - Urundel .................................................................59
Graph 26 - Kind of contraceptive method - Tandil .....................................................................59
Graph 27 - Kind of contraceptive method - Urundel ..................................................................60
Graph 28 Pensions Tandil and Urundel ................................................................................60
Graph 29 - Medical assistance and providing institution - Tandil ...............................................61
Graph 30 - Medical assistance and providing institution - Urundel ...........................................61
Graph 31 - Cause of the disability Tandil and Urundel ............................................................62
Graph 32 - Institution that provides the aid - Tandil and Urundel .............................................63
Graph 33 - BMI-for-age BOYS (World Health Organization) .......................................................68
Graph 34 - BMI-for-age GIRLS (World Health Organization) ......................................................68
Graph 35 - Chronic diseases - Tandil ..........................................................................................73
Graph 36 - Chronic diseases - Urundel .......................................................................................73

3
Index of Maps

Map 1 - Female headed households - Tandil (blocks) ................................................................17

Map 2 - Female headed households - Urundel ..........................................................................18
Map 3 - Female headed households - Tandil (dots) ...................................................................18
Map 4 - Current young mothers - Tandil ....................................................................................19
Map 5 - Current young mothers - Urundel .................................................................................20
Map 6 - Young mothers - Tandil .................................................................................................20
Map 7 - Young mothers - Urundel ..............................................................................................21
Map 8 - Hunger: Territorial distribution - Tandil (1) ...................................................................22
Map 9 - Hunger: Territorial distribution - Tandil (2) ...................................................................22
Map 10 - Hunger: Territorial distribution - Urundel (1) ..............................................................23
Map 11 - Hunger: Territorial distribution - Tandil (1) .................................................................23
Map 12 - Repeaters - Tandil .......................................................................................................25
Map 13- Repeaters - Urundel .....................................................................................................26
Map 14 - Drop-out Tandil (1) ...................................................................................................26
Map 15 - Drop-out Tandil (2) ...................................................................................................27
Map 16 - Drop-out Urundel (1)................................................................................................27
Map 17 - Drop-out Urundel (2)................................................................................................28
Map 18 - Illiteracy ......................................................................................................................28
Map 19 Illiteracy Urundel .....................................................................................................29
Map 20 - Child deaths - Tandil....................................................................................................30
Map 21 - Child deaths - Urundel ................................................................................................30
Map 22 - Makeshift housing - Tandil ..........................................................................................32
Map 23 - Makeshift housing - Urundel .......................................................................................32
Map 24 - Squatters - Tandil ........................................................................................................33
Map 25 - Squatters - Urundel .....................................................................................................33
Map 26 - Lack of sanitary toilet facilities - Tandil .......................................................................34
Map 27 - Lack of sanitary toilet facilities - Urundel ....................................................................34
Map 28 - Unemployment - Tandil ..............................................................................................35
Map 29 - Unemployment - Urundel ...........................................................................................36
Map 30 Social assistance - Tandil ............................................................................................37
Map 31 - Social assistance - Urundel ..........................................................................................38
Map 32 - Social assistance (without Universal Subsidy per Child) - Tandil .................................39
Map 33 - Social assistance (without Universal Subsidy per Child) - Urundel ..............................39

4
Index of Tables

Table 1 - Tandil - Households visited ..........................................................................................13

Table 2 - Urundel - Households visited.......................................................................................13
Table 3 - Households and Individuals Tandil and Urundel .......................................................14
Table 4 - Gender Tandil and Urundel.......................................................................................14
Table 5 - Migration Tandil and Urundel ...................................................................................16
Table 6 - Hunger in Tandil and Urundel ......................................................................................21
Table 7 - Z values for BMI ...........................................................................................................24
Table 8 - Education in Tandil and Urundel .................................................................................25
Table 9 - Housing problems ........................................................................................................31
Table 10 - Unemployment per gender - Tandil...........................................................................35
Table 11 - Unemployment per gender - Urundel .......................................................................35
Table 12 Social assistance in Tandil and Urundel ....................................................................36
Table 13 Relation of USpC, Unemployment and informal employment.....................................37
Table 14 - Most common working days in Tandil and Urundel ..................................................44
Table 15 - Health plan ................................................................................................................46
Table 16 - Medical attention ......................................................................................................46
Table 17 - Public and private school ...........................................................................................48
Table 18 - Maximum educational level achieved of dropouts - Tandil .......................................49
Table 19 - Community and politics participation - Tandil ...........................................................49
Table 20 - Community and politics participation - Urundel ........................................................50
Table 21 - Births registered - Tandil and Urundel .......................................................................51
Table 22 Participation in elections - Tandil and Urundel .........................................................51
Table 23 - Source of electricity - Tandil and Urundel .................................................................52
Table 24 - Kind of heat (Cooking) - Tandil ..................................................................................52
Table 25 - Heating system - Tandil .............................................................................................53
Table 26 - Kind of heat (Cooking) - Urundel ...............................................................................53
Table 27 - Heating system - Urundel ..........................................................................................53
Table 28 - Other amenities - Tandil and Urundel .......................................................................54
Table 29 - Present situation compared to foretime - Tandil and Urundel ..................................54
Table 30 - Cause of present situation compared to foretime - Tandil and Urundel ...................54
Table 31 - Needs of the households - Tandil ..............................................................................56
Table 32 - Needs of the households - Urundel ...........................................................................57
Table 33 - Disintegration of households without access to sanitary toilet facilities Tandil and
Urundel ......................................................................................................................................57
Table 34 Issues of special interest ...........................................................................................58
Table 35 - Disabilities - Tandil and Urundel ................................................................................62
Table 36 - Aid received for the disability Tandil.......................................................................63
Table 37 - Aid received for the disability Tandil.......................................................................63
Table 38 - Additional sources of income - Tandil........................................................................70
Table 39 - Access to programs - Tandil .......................................................................................70

5
Table 40 - Additional sources of income - Urundel ....................................................................71
Table 41 - Access to programs - Urundel ....................................................................................71
Table 42 Institutions attended for recent treatments .............................................................72
Table 43 - Coverage of expenditures of recent treatments- Tandil and Urundel .......................72
Table 44 - Coverage of expenditures of recent treatments- Tandil and Urundel .......................74

6
 Abstract

In December 2010 started the Pilot CBMS in Argentina. The Institute of Economics of the
UNICEN (Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires) was the institution
who lead the process. From January to July of 2011 the Institute established alliances and
partnerships with local actors, involved the municipalities in the process, design the pilot
selecting the places to census, and the questionnaire to use (joint with the municipal
governments). The personal (interviewers, data enters, team leaders) was selected and trained
in August 2011. The Census was finally done mainly in September (and in a few days of
October). The places selected for the pilot where Tandil (the Northern part of the city) and
Urundel (the entire city). The selection of these two places was strategic to make the pilot the
richest possible, since these cities present very different characteristics.

From November to April 2012 we worked in processing the data, and validating the results
with local authorities. From May to August 2012 we reviewed all the material, presented the
results in seminars, publicized the CBMS methodology in other municipalities and write the
final reports.

The present is the main report where we summarize the most relevant results of the CBMS
census performed in the cities of Tandil and Urundel. We present first the demographic
results, then poverty profile of the areas surveyed and then a general analysis of the results.

In the Poverty profile section we present those results related to poverty, sticking to the set of
Core Indicators established at the early stages of the process and some complementary
figures. In the Analysis of Survey Results section we show the results regarding the main
features of the population: demography, education, economy, etc.

The two cities studied are very different in history, size and economic situation, nevertheless
the living condition situation shares many things in common. This effect is probably due to the
fact that in Tandil we focus on a low income part of the city, whereas in Urundel we studied
the entire town. The most notorious differences are in unemployment, problem that in
Urundel reaches a quarter of the economic active population, doubling Tandils record. Social
assistance also is larger in Urundel. In the Poverty profile section we present those results
related to poverty, sticking to the set of Core Indicators established at the early stages of the
process and some complementary figures. In the Analysis of Survey Results section we show
the results regarding the main features of the population: demography, education, economy,
etc.

7
 1. General profile

About Tandil

Tandil was founded in 1823 as a Fort, called originally Fuerte Independencia (Independence
Fortress) which was at that point the limit with aborigines, and an area of constant attacks and
violence. It was populated mainly with European immigrants. Most of the early migrants come
from Spain (mostly Basks) and Denmark. Later, it come a large contingent of Italians that
populated the region, being Italians descendents the most populous group today in Tandil. The
new territories developed fast influenced by agriculture, what shaped the north-south
dichotomy of Argentina. In the case of Tandil, the attractiveness of the Tandilia Hills and the
Moving Stone (Piedra Movediza) allowed an early development of tourism too, that today
accounts for 20% of local GDP.

Tandil currently has, according to the 2010 Census, 123.520 inhabitants. GDP per capita is
estimated in USD 11.000 per capita. It has been growing well above the country average in the
2000s, with the development of new economic sectors (such as software industry) and the
attractiveness of its good quality of life. It has been an attractor pole for entrepreneurs and
rich individuals, but also for pours looking for jobs.

The economic boom has pushed urban land prices up, particularly in the downtown area, what
has segmented the city in a similar fashion as the larger cities of the country, expelling the
medium and low income households to the periphery. The city is limited to the south by hills.
As the city grew, rich neighbourhood concentrated in downtown area and in the lower hills of
the southern part of the city, whereas poor barrios grew to the other side of the Route 226
(the Northern part). It is estimated than in the north part of the city, called Tandil Norte
(Northern Tandil) -developed outside the original urban zone- currently has 30.000
inhabitants. The isolation of this part helped to create a sense of community.

The urban area of Tandil can be divided into 23 neighborhoods or barrios. These barrios in
some cases have an own sense of community (like Villa Italia, a barrio founded with Italian
immigration) and in other cases is just an administrative definition. Our Pilot CBMS focused on
Northern Tandil, to the other side of the Route 226. The three barrios we study are: 1) San
Cayetano, 2) Villa Aguirre and 3) Selvetti-Palermo.

Graph 1. GIS Tandil

8
Graph 2. Pictures of Tandil

9
Urundel

Urundel is a rural municipality of Salta. According to the 2001 Census there were 3162
inhabitants (Census 2010 data is not available), whereas the entire Department has 124.000
inhabitants.

In the pre-census of Urundel we found 633 inhabited lots, divided into nine barrios or
neighborhoods. We estimated 800 households. According to the information for the entire
department (Oran), the population growth between 2001 and 2010 was 11%, close to the
country average of 10.6%.

In terms of aborigine groups, there are currently two Guaran native communities living in
the town: the Iyiguapentirami and the Avaguaran. They are not segregated in a particular
neighborhood but rather distributed along the city.

Urundel is an area of "foothill forests" . The main economic activity is agriculture, historically
dominated by sugar, but currently more diversified. It has a conglomerate of farms doing
premiere horticultural crops and export fruits such as: orange, grapefruit, lemon, mango,
papaya, bananas, green peppers, tomatoes, watermelon, pumpkin, melon, strawberry, sweet
potato, cassava, and coffee. There is also wood production from the forests.

10
 Graph 3. GIS Urundel

Graph 4. Satellite Picture of Urundel

11
 Graph 5. Pictures of Urundel Town

Census1 The total amount of lots in the 3 neighborhoods: San Cayetano, Selvetti-Palermo and
Villa Aguirre was 3874, according to what the municipal authority reported, but many of them
were uninhabited at the time the census was carried out. Many of the lots were occupied by
factories, shops or public buildings, but the most common situation in this group were the
empty lots (closed with wire fence, some of them only with horses on them) and lots with a
building and/or a swimming-pool to spend the weekend.

The total amount of lots in the 3 neighborhoods: San Cayetano, Selvetti-Palermo and Villa
Aguirre was 3874, according to what the municipal authority reported, but many of them were
uninhabited at the time the census was carried out. Many of the lots were occupied by
factories, shops or public buildings, but the most common situation in this group were the
empty lots (closed with wire fence, some of them only with horses on them) and lots with a
building and/or a swimming-pool to spend the weekend.

From the households visited, we had 2083 positive answers, 336 refused to answer and 259
were, after 3 visits, considered as temporarily uninhabited. Hence, the final amount of
households in the surveyed area is 2678.

1
In Tandil the Census was administrated from September 9 to October 31, 2011. In Urundel, from
Tuesday August 30 to the Monday October 17.

12
 Table 1 - Tandil - Households visited

Amount Proportion
Positive answers 2083 77.8%
Refusals 336 12.5%
Considered inhabited 259 9.7%

Total amount of households 2678 100.0%

In Urundel, the census was carried out in the whole town. According to the municipal
authorities, the total amount of lots was 746. In the Census from the households visited, we
obtained 662 positive answers, 34 refused to answer and 41 were, after 3 visits, considered as
temporarily uninhabited. Hence, the final amount of households in the surveyed area was 737.

Table 2 - Urundel - Households visited

Amount Proportion
Positive answers 662 89.8%
Refusals 34 4.6%
Considered inhabited 41 5.6%

Total amount of households 737 100.0%

13
 2. Demography

In Northern Tandil we found 7171 individuals in 2083 households, what gives average
household size of 3.44 (in what follows we will refer just to Tandil instead of Northern Tandil).
In Urundel, the population surveyed reaches 2865 individuals in 663 households, or 4.32 per
household. Gender composition was more male biased in Urundel with 51% of the individuals.
In Tandil, the gender composition (51.3% females) is more similar to the national average
(51.33%)

Table 3 - Households and Individuals Tandil and Urundel

Tandil Urundel
Total households 2,083 663
Total people 7,171 2,865
Average size of household 3.44 4.32

Table 4 - Gender Tandil and Urundel

Tandil Urundel Argentina (Census 2010)

Freq. % Freq. % Freq. %
Male 3,492 48.70 1,46 51.0 19,523,766 48.7
Female 3,679 51.30 1,405 49.0 20,593,330 51.3
Total 7,171 100.0 2,865 100.0 40,117,096 100.0

The population pyramids for Urundel and Tandil shows that the first city has a younger
population: 34.3% is 14 years or less, while in Tandil this percentage reaches 28.7%. The youth
is also relatively larger in Urundel than in Tandil, 29.2% versus 24%. Again Tandil follows closer
the pattern of Argentina than Urundel.

14
 Graph 6 - Population pyramid in Argentina 2001

Source: www.indec.gov.ar/proyectos/censo2001

Graph 7 - Population pyramid in Tandil*

90 or more
85-89
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64 Woman
55-59
50-54 Man
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
15-19
10-14
5-9
0-4
6 4 2 0 2 4 6

* The percentage of people that did not answered or did not knew, did not reached 1%

15
 Graph 8 - Population pyramid in Urundel*

90 or more
85-89
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64 Woman
55-59
50-54 Man
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
15-19
10-14
5-9
0-4
8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8
* The percentage of people that did not answered or did not knew, was less than 1%

Migration

When we look at migration rates, we can see a more dynamic pattern in Tandil since 70% of
the population lived always in the same city compared 85% in Urundel. In the las two years
(2010-2011) migrated to Tandil 1.7% of the population surveyed, and 8.2% in the last decade.
For Urundel this figures are much smaller: 0.8% and 4.5% respectively.

Table 5 - Migration Tandil and Urundel

Tandil Urundel
Total Male Female Total Male Female
Native 70.2% 71.4% 69.0% 85.3% 86.0% 84.6%
Migration in 2010 and 2011* 124 56 68 23 6 17
Migration rate (2010 and 2011*) 1.7% 1.6% 1.8% 0.8% 0.4% 1.2%
Migration since 2001* 589 277 312 129 194 129
Migration rate (since 2001*) 8.2% 7.9% 8.5% 4.5% 4.4% 4.6%
* Until the date of the survey

Female migration is higher in all cases, and it is interesting to see that this tendency
accelerates in the last two years. In Tandil the Female migration rate is 15% higher than the
one referred to man for the last two years and 7% for the last decade, and in Urundel the
female migration rate is 194% higher than the one referred to man for the last two years and
6% for the last decade.

16
 3. Core Indicators

3.1. Female headed households

The sustained interest in the female heads of households comes from its growing weight in the
population due to the crisis of the nuclear complete family model and to the fact that their
households are considered vulnerable. 2 In Tandil 28.8% of the households were female
headed compared to 26.7% in Urundel.

Geographically, female headed households in Tandil are concentrated in the northern part of
the area we census, which is the poorest and furthest from downtown (see in Map 1 - Female
headed households - Tandil ). The northern blocks are the ones that are less populated,
causing the measures per block to be more extreme. 3 In the case of Urundel there is not a
particular pattern.

Map 1 - Female headed households - Tandil (blocks)

2
Rosa N. Geldstein (1997). Women head of household, UNICEF Argentina.
3
This is the only time we use this visualization in Tandil. For the rest of the maps we considered better
to use dots, so as not to distort view due to the different amount of households in each block. Instead,
in Urundel, we were able to present the information per lot.

17
 Map 2 - Female headed households - Urundel

Map 3 - Female headed households - Tandil (dots)

18
 3.2. Young mothers

We defined a young mother as those females that have had their first child at 21 years old or
younger. It is important to point out that young mother is highly correlated with poverty and
social exclusion in Argentina.4

In Tandil, we found that 3% of the mothers were, at the time of carrying out the survey,
younger than 21. From them, 66% were between 19 and 21 years old. As expected, this
indicator in Urundel was higher, reaching 7.6%. From them, 55% are 19 or 20 years old.

Regarding mothers that gave birth young, independently from their current age, in Tandil we
obtained that 47% of the mothers had their first child before being 21, and in Urundel 63.6%.

Map 4 - Current young mothers - Tandil

4
80% of the young mothers (aged between 15 and 24 years old) belong to the two poorer quintiles
http://www.idesa.org/sites/default/files/documentos/Informe-Nacional-06-11-11.pdf

19
Map 5 - Current young mothers - Urundel

Map 6 - Young mothers - Tandil

20
 Map 7 - Young mothers - Urundel

3.3. Nutrition

Hunger
We define three measures of hunger: households that suffer privacy of food less than 5 times
in a month (but more than one), between 5 and 15 times and more than 15 times.

Table 6 - Hunger in Tandil and Urundel

Tandil Urundel
1-5 times 2.4% 2.4%
5-15 times 0.5% 1.1%
15+ 0.0% 0.0%

The conclusion emerged from the nutritional data at a household level is that there is a small
part of them whose members suffer from hunger and on the contrary one may expect, the
proportion is similar in Tandil and Urundel. In the first city there is no particular geographical
pattern of the distribution of the households whose members suffered from hunger, while in
Urundel, the households that suffer the most are in the western and southern part.

21
Map 8 - Hunger: Territorial distribution - Tandil (1)

Map 9 - Hunger: Territorial distribution - Tandil (2)

22
Map 10 - Hunger: Territorial distribution - Urundel (1)

Map 11 - Hunger: Territorial distribution - Tandil (1)

23
Child nutrition

As explained in Annex 1 , we compute the Body Mass Index (BMI) indicators for children, and
based on this indicators we classify children following PAHO. 5

We present the results in scatter plots and tables for both cities. The results show that in
Tandil and Urundel the main problem is overweight and obesity (48% and 28% respectively)
more than emaciation.

Graph 9 BMI by age Tandil

Boys Girls

Graph 10 BMI by age Urundel

Boys Girls

Table 7 - Z values for BMI

Z values BMI standards Tandil Urundel

# % # %
Severely emaciated 7 4.1% 2 1.9%
Emaciated 5 3.0% 0 0.0%
Normal 76 45.0% 72 69.9%
Overweighed 17 10.1% 11 10.7%
Obese 64 37.9% 18 17.5%

Total 169 100% 103 100%

5
Standards from the Pan American Health Organization
www.paho.org/spanish/ad/fch/nu/a_introduccion.pdf and the World Health Organization
www.who.int/childgrowth

24
 3.4. Education

In this section we present statistics related to education, such as retention , drop-out and
Illiteracy rates. We also present the information in georeferenced maps. The main result is
that there are important limitations in terms of education for the households interviewed.

Table 8 - Education in Tandil and Urundel

Tandil Urundel
Retention 23.1% 37.7%
Drop-out (13-18 years old) 5.2% 7.9%
Drop-out (6-12 years old) 0.1% 1.0%
Illiteracy 1.3% 1.1%

Retention rate is surprisingly high in Urundel, especially considering that according to the
Ministry of Education, retention rates are higher in the Province of Buenos Aires than in the
province of Salta6. This could show heterogeneity within provinces, especially in Salta between
Capital City and little towns (for the Province of Buenos Aires repetition rate is measured
separately in big and small cities).

Regarding Illiteracy, both cities are slightly below the national average for adult population
(1.9% according to the last census in 2001)7.

Map 12 - Repeaters - Tandil

6
http://www.indec.gov.ar/
7
http://www.indec.gov.ar/

25
Map 13- Repeaters - Urundel

Map 14 - Drop-out Tandil (1)

26
Map 15 - Drop-out Tandil (2)

Map 16 - Drop-out Urundel (1)

27
Map 17 - Drop-out Urundel (2)

Map 18 - Illiteracy

28
 Map 19 Illiteracy Urundel

3.5. Mortality rate in Children and pregnant

In Tandil, the mortality rate of children reached 0.27%, finding 4 cases (Two of them of sudden
death, one of imperfect osmogenesis and one did not know/refused) in children aged 0-5 years
old death in the last 5 years, over 1465 children. In Urundel, the proportion reached 0.87%,
with 6 cases over 690 (two died of Cancer, two of Pneumonia, one of heart problems and one
of appendicitis).

In terms of mother mortality related to pregnancy complications, in Tandil we did not find any
case (from the 1822 mothers surveyed), and found one in Urundel (from 529 mothers).

29
Map 20 - Child deaths - Tandil

Map 21 - Child deaths - Urundel

30
 3.6. Housing conditions

Another dimension of poverty is the housing deficit: Makeshift housing, squatter households
and restricted access to proper sanitary toilet facilities, among others.

We define as Makeshift housing those houses in which the walls were built with light and/or
improvised materials or households in which the roof was built with improvised materials.
Housing conditions were collected in the Census by the CBMS enumerators.

We defined squatter households as those that (self-reported) to occupy the lot or the house
without consent of the owner (if occupants did not report, we might be underestimating this
figure).

We defined as proper sanitary toilet facilities those connected to public mains or with septic
tank and cesspool, considering households with precarious wastewater drains those with a
cesspool (with septic tank); in the open; indoor or without bathroom.

Table 9 - Housing problems

Tandil Urundel
Makeshift housing 3.8% 3.3%
Squatters 1.1% 0.5%
Without access to sanitary
toilet facilities 17.7% 15.7%

Regarding its geographical distribution, in Tandil, makeshift housing and squatter households
do not seem to follow a specific pattern, while zones where there is lack of access to proper
sanitary toilet facilities are more clearly identifiable.

31
Map 22 - Makeshift housing - Tandil

Map 23 - Makeshift housing - Urundel

32
Map 24 - Squatters - Tandil

Map 25 - Squatters - Urundel

33
 Map 26 - Lack of sanitary toilet facilities - Tandil

Map 27 - Lack of sanitary toilet facilities - Urundel

34
 3.7. Unemployment

This set of indicators were the ones that presented the highest disparity between the two
surveyed areas, while Tandils unemployment reaches 12.9%, in Urundel it reaches more than
the double: 26.3%.

Another disparity found was between genders: In Tandil, while rate of unemployment for men
is 5.1%, for women is 22.6%; and in the case of Urundel, for men women is 41.7% and for men
is 17%.

Table 10 - Unemployment per gender - Tandil

Men Women Total

Employed 1,823 94.9% 1,197 77.4% 3020 87.1%
Unemployed 98 5.1% 349 22.6% 447 12.9%
1,921 100.0% 1,546 100.0% 3,467 100.0%

Table 11 - Unemployment per gender - Urundel

Men Women Total

Employed 576 83.0% 243 58.3% 819 73.7%
Unemployed 118 17.0% 174 41.7% 292 26.3%
694 100.0% 417 100.0% 1,111 100.0%

Map 28 - Unemployment - Tandil

35
 Map 29 - Unemployment - Urundel

3.8. Social assistance

In general, the Core Indicators show that Social Assistance is very frequent in the areas of the
census. There are different types of programs. A massive one is Asignacin Universal por Hijo
(Universal Subsidy per Child, USpC) which is a lump sum subsidy per child for families with
income below a given threshold introduced in 2009. The subsidy per child is ARS 270 (almost
USD 43 at the exchange rate 6.3) or ARS 1080 for a handicap child. 8 Before 2009 there was a
Subsidy per Child benefit for formal workers with income below a threshold. The problem with
this program (financed with labor contributions) was that most poor households were
excluded. In 2009 the subsidy generalized to every family, and not only those who have a
formal worker, what means unemployed, informal workers, and selfemployed are now
included.

Table 12 Social assistance in Tandil and Urundel

Tandil Urundel
Social assistance 40.9% 53.0%
Social assistance (government) 38.3% 52.0%
Social assistance (government,
excluding Universal Subsidy per Child) 23.8% 43.8%

8
In fact, 80% of the subsidy is disbursed monthly and 20% accumulates and it is paid once a year after
verification of the requirements of child assistance to school, vaccination and other controls.

36
 Table 13 Relation of USpC, Unemployment and informal employment

USpC Informal
Unemployment
Coverage* employment
Tandil 22.8% 12.9% 52.5%
Urundel 19.3% 26.3% 39.3%
* Percentage of households with at least a child receiving the USpC

In order to investigate further in social programs diffusion, the different levels of social
assistance are evaluated geographically, from the most general to the particular.

Thus, we focus first on social assistance provided both by the government and private parties.
In the case of Tandil, the total social assistance reaches more than 40% of the households, and
performing a birds eye view, we can see some areas where social assistance is very common
(like area 1, in Map 30), and some other where it is the exception (like areas 2 and 3, in Map
30).

Performing the same methodology in Urundel, we can go from an area where the social
assistance is not very usual, in the center of the city (area 1, in Map 31), to the surroundings,
where the social assistance seem to be very common (areas 2, 3, 4 and 5 in Map 31).

It is important to point out that in both places, Tandil and Urundel, private social assistance is
relatively small.

Map 30 Social assistance - Tandil

37
Map 31 - Social assistance - Urundel

38
 Map 32 - Social assistance (without Universal Subsidy per Child) - Tandil

Map 33 - Social assistance (without Universal Subsidy per Child) - Urundel

The most spread program in Urundel is the Provincial Feeding Program, whose beneficiaries
are almost 30% of the households. This program consists mainly of the provision of a food
package, vitamin complexes and iron sulfate to families with children and to pregnant
mothers, aimed to prevent malnourishment in children aged 0-6 years old.

39
The homemade bread program consists of providing flour to groups of five mothers to make
bread. According to the results, these two main feeding programs cover almost 40% of the
households in Urundel.

4. Analysis of survey results

4.1. Work & business

Having determined the rates of unemployment and informal jobs within areas surveyed (see
the Unemployment and Social assistance sections), we continue analyzing other features
about economic activity related with the households.

First, lets take a look at the labor structure. The Non-skilled workers are among the most
important groups of workers in both cities. While the high amount of Salesman-servant in
Tandil tend to show a city more focused into services, the high amount of people dedicated to
agriculture/cattle farming, reveal an economy more into primary activities.

In Tandil, the most important activities are services (23%); construction (17%) and wholesale-
retail sales (12%), while in Urundel are the Agriculture / Livestock (42%) and services (13%).

40
 Graph 11 - Work: Industry and kind of job - Tandil

DK/REF 2% 3%
Other

Services 12% 3% 4% 2%
Arts, culture, sport and recreation

Health

Education 3%
Public administration-Defense
Industry

Professional-scientific-technical

Financial services

Communications

Hotels-restaurants

Transport and storage 3% 2%

Mechanical 2%
Wholesale-retail sales 10%
Construction 5% 11%
Manufacturing 3%
Agriculture / Livestock 2%
0 200 400 600 800

Kind of job

In Tandil, the three most frequent combinations are the job salesman-servant in the services
and in the wholesale-retail sales industries and the non-skilled work in construction.

Besides following a global/national tendency, the high relevance of services could be the
consequence of the growth of tourism in the last decade. Since the devaluation of the peso,
Argentineans started looking for alternatives to spend their vacations, and Tandil became a
significant spot for inhabitants of Buenos Aires City to visit within the country, especially in
long-weekends9. According to different estimations, only the touristic activity represents
around 10% of GDP10. To enforce this point of view, it is useful to mention that the proportion
of workers only in Hotels-Restaurants is non-despicable: 2% of the total workers.
As for the great amount of construction workers could be explained by the growth of the city
and the particular macro-economic conditions that make real estate a safe investment
(inflation, high prices of soy, mistrust in financial institutions and government), that caused the
construction activity to flourish in the last decade.

Although the two industries mentioned (services and construction) and wholesale-retail sales
generate the most of the jobs, from their composition can be understood that most of them
are non-skilled.

9
See, for example http://garridoyasociados.com.ar/new/images/TURINV07.pdf ,
http://www.elpopular.com.ar/diario/2010/06/04/nota.html?idnota=80822
10
See, for example http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1410431-tandil

41
 Graph 12 - Work: Industry and kind of job - Urundel

DK/REF
Other
Services 3% 3% 6%
Arts, culture, sport and
Health 2%
Education 4%
Public administration-Defense 2%
Industry

Professional-scientific-technical
Financial services
Communications
Hotels-restaurants
Transport and storage 2%
Mechanical
Wholesale-retail sales 7%
Construction 5%
Manufacturing
Agriculture / Livestock 21% 18%
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Kind of job
Government-Executive-Manager-etc. Professional Technician

Administrative-Priest Salesman-Servant Agricultor-Cattle farming

Craft and similar Non skilled worker Teacher-Police-Military

Other job DK/REF

While Tandil shows a more diversified productive structure, in Urundel the

agriculture/livestock industry is hegemonic: 21% of workers called themselves farmers, while
18% are non-skilled workers within Agriculture and livestock industry. It is reasonable to
assume that the so called farmers cultivate their own land, while the non-skilled workers
perform their activity for others in exchange for a salary.
The difference of Agriculture/livestock activities in Tandil (4%) and Urundel (42%) probably
happens also because primary activity in pampeana region has incorporated in the last
decades a great deal of machinery (together with technological package that includes
genetically modified seeds, chemicals and fertilizers), while in Urundel the production method
shows more participation of labor11.
Other relevant facts regarding the Industries and kinds of jobs:

Teachers represent a relevant portion of the workers both in Tandil (3%) and Urundel
(4%).

Manufacturing activity is more intense in Tandil (8%) than Urundel (4%).

Urundel shows a higher presence of public jobs (5%) than Tandil (3%). This difference
becomes higher if we sum the health and education workers together, that are mainly
public in both cities (10% in Urundel and 6% in Tandil)
When looking at the amount of hours that worked those who declared to have worked in the
last 3 months, first, the histograms are presented to see the general picture:

11
See for example http://economicas2.unlam.edu.ar/unlam100/biblioteca/cepal/W24.pdf

42
 Graph 13 - Amount of hours worked per week - Tandil

20
15
10
5
0

0 50 100 150
Ammount of hours
5.7% of the workers did not answered or did not know

Graph 14 - Amount of hours worked per week - Urundel

30
20
10
0

0 50 100 150
Ammount of hours
1.6% of the workers did not answered or did not know

43
The most common answers are 20 hours (part-time, most probably 4 hours a day from
Monday to Friday), 40 hours (full time, most probably 8 hours a day from Monday to Friday)
and 48 hours (full time, most probably 8 hours a day from Monday to Saturday, or 9 hours a
day from Monday to Friday):

Table 14 - Most common working days in Tandil and Urundel

Tandil Urundel
20 hours 6.5% 5.1%
30 hours 6.6% 15.3%
40 hours 15.7% 25.8%
48 hours 13.3% 18.4%
As a percent of the workers - 9.5% (Tandil) and 1.6% (Urundel) of the workers did not answered or did not know

Considering the limit established by ILO (International Labour Organization) for Industry,
commerce and office12 of 48 hours of work per week, we determined the proportion of
workers doing regular hours and those doing excessive hours.

Graph 15 - Regular and excessive hours

If we explore the industries of those working between 48 and 84 hours:

12
International Labour Standards - http://www.ilo.org/global/standards/subjects-covered-by-
international-labour-standards/working-time/lang--en/index.htm

44
 Graph 16 - Industries with long working days

In Tandil, the higher average is in other, followed by transport and storage (for reasons
analyzed then) Agriculture/Livestock and mechanical.

If we take a quick look at the industries of jobs doing more than 84 hours a week, in Tandil,
22% of them work in transport and storage and 19% in the Wholesale-retail sales business. In
so far as the first ones, it is reasonable to assume that they are mainly truckers and within the
seconds, there is possibly a lot of storekeepers that live where they serve their customers.

In Urundel, there is a much smaller proportion that said to be working more than 84 hours
(0.7%, only six people) and their occupations are all different, which cannot allow us to arrive
to powerful conclusions.

4.2. Health

In Tandil there are 3 public hospitals and 16 basic assistance centers (places that work with
scarce medical equipment, to attend basic needs and to carry out periodical consultations to
people in different neighborhoods). In the surveyed area there are four of the mentioned basic
assistance centers. In Urundel, there is a general hospital for the whole town.

Regarding health insurance, 36% and 33% of the households in Tandil and Urundel respectively
are not covered. From those households that have a health plan, in Tandil the public and from
a union (that is, that belongs to a group of workers unionized) health insurances play a
significant role, while in Urundel, the most common health plan is the one that is private.

45
 Table 15 - Health plan

Health plan? Tandil Urundel

Yes Public 640 30.7% 126 19.0%
Private 325 15.6% 267 40.3%
From a Union 273 13.1% 51 7.7%
DK/REF 89 4.3% 0 0.0%
No 750 36.0% 218 32.9%
DK/REF 6 0.3% 1 0.2%

2083 100% 663 100%

Both in Tandil and Urundel, the public hospital is the most frequented place to go when a
health problem appears (38% and 71% respectively). In the Table 16 - Medical attention it can
also be evaluated the relevance of the neighborhood health centers in Tandil: They have an
impact on the neighborhood (11%), but most of the neighbors continue seeing the traditional
more prepared institutions in the main part of the city (across the 226 route) as the reference
at the time of requiring medical assistance. At the same time we see the trend in Tandil to
attend to private institutions (Health insurance offices, private hospital and private
consultation).

Table 16 - Medical attention

Tandil Urundel
Neighborhood health center 233 11.2% 2 0.3%
Public hospital 791 38.0% 470 70.9%
Health Insurance 214 10.3% 64 9.7%
Private hospital 330 15.8% 67 10.1%
Private consultation 344 16.5% 18 2.7%
Other 35 1.7% 2 0.3%
z DK/REF 12 0.6% 38 5.7%
z N/A 124 6.0% 2 0.3%

More detailed features of health problems are specified in Annex 3 Health problems, not at a
household level, but at a people level.

4.3. Education

Having determined the relevance of the main education problems, in this section we complete
the analysis of the educational situation in the areas surveyed.

First, we present the general education profile of Tandil and Urundel. From the total
population surveyed, we determined those people that dropped out before finishing

46
secondary school, those that finished secondary school, those that still have not finished
school but are still within the educational system and the children that are less than 4 years
old, to exclude those that are not relevant for this analysis . This can give an idea of the level of
instruction: 45% and 44% respectively for Tandil and Urundel are not in school (or
kindergarten) and have not finished the secondary school.

Besides, 28% and 33% are still in school and 20% and 2% have finished the secondary school
respectively in Tandil and Urundel.

In Urundel, there is very few the population surveyed that stated to have finished the
secondary school, but there was a high proportion of undetermined answers (this is, that said
not going to school, but did not specified their educational status at all), that would possibly
increase the proportion of people that finished secondary school.

These undetermined answers were due to problems in training enumerators (it was wrongly
understood that those people that were not in school did not have to answer any other
questions of education). We decided, yet, to show the data as it was answered, and then to
make assumptions on that, instead of making assumptions during data cleaning.

Graph 17 - General education profile - Tandil

Undetermined
0%
Less than 4 years
old
7%

Still in school Dropped out

28% 45%

Finished
20%

47
 Graph 18 - General education profile - Urundel

Less than 4
years old
9%

Undetermined
12%
Dropped out
44%

Still in school
33%

Finished
2%

Second, other of the main aspects to outline is the preeminence of public over private school.
Tough, in Tandil the private institutions have proliferated in the last two decades, given the
decrease in educational level in public schools 13.

Table 17 - Public and private school

Tandil Urundel
Public 1982 86.1% 963 96.6%
Private 226 9.8% 19 1.9%
DK/REF 93 4.0% 15 1.5%
2301 100% 997 100%

Regarding the maximum educational level achieved for those that dropped out, in Tandil the
most common situation was that they dropped out after finishing primary school (51%, for the
most of them, finish the school means to finish the primary school).

In Urundel, it is hard to extract conclusions since the problems with this section mentioned
above.

13
There is an overwhelming consensus of this. See, for example, Daniel Filmus (former minister of
Education), Los condicionantes de la calidad educativa, 1995.

48
 Table 18 - Maximum educational level achieved of dropouts - Tandil

1800 1,634
1600
1400
1200
1000
789
800
593
600
400
200 61 35 95
6 3 1 2
0

4.4. Community and politics participation

When the household members were asked about participation in community groups and in
political activities, we found in Tandil that the most active participation is in Church/religious
group (20%), social club (13%) and school association (10%).

Table 19 - Community and politics participation - Tandil

In Urundel, the participation is higher in all organizations. The most active participation is in
Church/religious group (57%), political party (35%) and social club (32%).

49
 Table 20 - Community and politics participation - Urundel

4.5. Religion

In Tandil and especially in Urundel, the surveyed population is mainly catholic. In Tandil the
first religious minority is atheism, while in Urundel is Evangelism.

Graph 19 - Religion - Tandil

3.240%

Catholic

20.608% Evangelist
Jehovah's Witness
.850% Jewish
.060% Other religion
9.539% 64.194%
1.510% None
DK/REF

50
 Graph 20 - Religion - Urundel

4.080% .450%
.140% .00%
1.570%

Catholic
Evangelist
22.552%
Jehovah's Witness
Other religion
None
71.207%
DK/REF

4.6. Civility

Societies both from Tandil and Urundel have a high participation in its civil duties. Almost all
births are registered in registry office and most of the citizens with 18 years or older
participated in elections14

Table 21 - Births registered - Tandil and Urundel

Tandil Urundel
Yes 7135 99.5% 2854 99.6%
No 6 0.1% 8 0.3%
DK/REF 30 0.4% 3 0.1%
7171 100% 2865 100%

Table 22 Participation in elections - Tandil and Urundel

Tandil Urundel
Yes 3,926 83.1% 1468 88.1%
No 747 15.8% 195 11.7%
DK/REF 54 1.1% 3 0.2%
4,727 100% 1666 100%

14
In Argentina, voting is an obligatory civil duty

51
 4.7. Amenities

Regarding amenities, besides the features showed in the section Housing conditions,
here we present first the source of electricity of the households, the kind of heat used to cook
and the heating system.

Regarding the electricity, in both cities most of the households have it, and the great majority
receives it from the electric company.

Table 23 - Source of electricity - Tandil and Urundel

Tandil Urundel
Electric company 2,034 97.7% 642 96.8%
Other sources 41 2.0% 15 2.3%
Do not have 5 0.2% 4 0.6%
DK/REF 3 0.1% 2 0.3%

2083 100% 663 100%

Regarding the heat used to cook, we see that in Tandil half of the households use natural gas
from the gas mains, and the other half (48%) use natural gas from a cylinder.

Instead, in Urundel, most of the households use natural gas from a cylinder (77%) and only a
few are connected to the mains (3%). Besides, the use of wood to cook is relevant (20%).

Regarding the heating system, in Tandil most of the households use a gas stove (44%) or a
fireplace (36%), while in Urundel, the most common situation is not to have heating system at
all, since the high average o temperatures registered in the northern part of the country. Yet,
25% of the households use an electric stove and 5% of them use a fireplace.

Table 24 - Kind of heat (Cooking) - Tandil

Kind of heat (cooking) Frequency Percent

Natural gas mains 1050 50.4%

Natural gas cylinder 999 48.0%
Natural gas large container 4 0.2%
Electricity 3 0.1%
Kerosene 1 0.1%
Wood 6 0.3%
Others 3 0.1%
DK/REF 17 0.8%

Total 2083 100%

52
 Table 25 - Heating system - Tandil

Heating Frequency Percent

Central heating system 276 13.3%

Gas Stove 919 44.1%
Electric Stove 50 2.4%
Fireplace 746 35.8%
Others 52 2.5%
There is no heat 21 1.0%
DK/REF 19 0.9%

Total 2083 100%

Table 26 - Kind of heat (Cooking) - Urundel

Kind of heat (cooking) Frequency Percent

Natural gas mains 17 2.6%

Natural gas cylinder 511 77.1%
Natural gas large container 2 0.3%
Electricity 1 0.2%
Wood 123 18.6%
Others 1 0.2%
Do not Cook 5 0.8%
DK/REF 3 0.5%

Total 663 100%

Table 27 - Heating system - Urundel

Heating Frequency Percent

Central heating system 1 0.2%

Gas Stove 12 1.8%
Electric Stove 164 24.7%
Fireplace 35 5.3%
There is no heat 444 67.0%
DK/REF 7 1.1%

Total 663 100%

To buy gas cylinders, 14% and 11% of the households in Tandil and Urundel respectively
receive aid from the government (or they are entirely provided by it).

53
Finally, the following table shows other amenities enjoyed by the households.

Table 28 - Other amenities - Tandil and Urundel

Tandil Urundel
Phone line 994 47.7% 39 5.9%
Cell phone 1,862 89.4% 534 80.5%
Internet 557 26.7% 36 5.4%
Cable TV 1,354 65.0% 549 82.8%
Satellite TV 292 14.0% 24 3.6%

5059 243% 1182 178%

4.8. Self-perceived situation, expectations and needs

Regarding the self perceived socioeconomic level and social mobility, both in Tandil and
Urundel, the respondents were optimistic when comparing the economic situation that their
parents lived to theirs. Furthermore, in Tandil the most of the respondents think that this is
due to external causes (the opportunities offered by the country) while in Urundel, the main
cause mentioned is internal (Own ability and initiative).

Table 29 - Present situation compared to foretime - Tandil and Urundel

Tandil Urundel
Better 53.5% 64.3%
Same 23.6% 29.0%
Worse 18.3% 5.4%
DK/REF 4.6% 1.4%

Table 30 - Cause of present situation compared to foretime - Tandil and Urundel

Tandil Urundel
Own ability and initiative 36.1% 41.8%
Educational attainment 10.7% 10.6%
The opportunities offered by the country 44.4% 32.1%
Other 3.5% 0.3%
DK/REF 5.4% 15.2%

The data surveyed in Tandil shows that the big majority of the households members surveyed
see themselves as middle class, while in Urundel the most of the respondents consider their
household as poor.

54
 Graph 21 - Self-perceived social class - Tandil and Urundel

In general, the population in Urundel and especially in Tandil considers that the health and
education their families receive is of a good quality.

Also, the expectations about the opportunities and economic situation their children will
receive are mostly optimistic.

Graph 22 - Self-perceived situation and expectations - Tandil

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50% Yes
40% No
30%
DK/REF
20%
10%
0%
Good quality Good quality Future Future
education? health? opportunities economic
situation

55
 Graph 23 - Self-perceived situation and expectations - Urundel

90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
Yes
40%
No
30%
DK/REF
20%
10%
0%
Good quality Good quality Future Future
education? health? opportunities economic
situation

Regarding households needs, we summarize in the following tables the most frequent issues
mentioned by neighbors:

Table 31 - Needs of the households - Tandil

Problem Mentioned 1st Mentioned 2nd

Do not know / refuse 37.1% 83.9%
None 12.1% -
Self-owned home 10.0% 1.2%
Extend/improve home 5.8% 0.7%
Get a job 4.7% 1.1%
Natural gas mains 2.8% 1.2%
Self-owned home (finish construction) 2.7% 0.2%
Asphalt 2.5% 1.6%
Increase income 2.2% 0.5%
Sewer 1.5% 0.9%
Job stability 1.4% 0.8%
Extend/improve home (construction
materials) 1.3% 0.3%
Get a good job 1.2% 0.3%
Self-owned home (for family members) 1.2% 0.1%
Safety 1.1% 1.0%

56
 Table 32 - Needs of the households - Urundel

Problem Mentioned 1st Mentioned 2nd

Self-owned home 27.2% 7.7%
Jobs 26.2% 7.7%
Do not know / refuse 17.7% 72.0%
Extend/improve home 7.8% 1.7%
Bathroom 5.1% 3.2%
Self-owned home (Lot) 4.2% 1.7%
Safety 1.4% 0.5%
Money 1.2% 0.3%
Economic needs 1.1% 0.2%

In Tandil, the population did not show much interest in this topic, probably because the
problems mentioned in previous reports (languishment of the people due to the national
census, a few problems in training) plus the fact that this group of questions were the lasts and
the respondents tend to show fatigue in the final minutes of the interview. However, some
clear conclusions can be obtained: if we group the answers in categories, the housing
problems appeared as the main topic (21%), followed by job/income problems (10%),
infrastructure deficiencies (7%) and safety (1%).

In Urundel, with a higher interest from the respondents, the main problem was also about
housing (39%), followed by job/income problems (29%), Bathroom (5%) and safety (1%).

The problem of the lack of bathroom in Urundel appears as very significant tough the
population in Urundel have highest access to proper sanitary toilet facilities (see Housing
conditions). To shed some light on this matter, lets see the way the core indicator was
built. A household was considered with proper sanitary toilet facilities when it was connected
to the public mains (sewer) or when it had a septic tank and a pool, while when the answers
Only a cesspool, In the open or No toilet facilities were given, it was considered as a
household without sanitary toilet facilities. Then if we disaggregate the indicators obtained, we
have that in proportion; more households in Urundel have no toilet facility at all than in Tandil:

Table 33 - Disintegration of households without access to sanitary toilet facilities Tandil

and Urundel

Tandil Urundel
Only a cesspool Own use 13.39% 14.03%
Only a cesspool Use shared with
other 3.89% 0.45%
In the open 0.05% 0.00%
No toilet facility 0.29% 1.21%

Total of households without access to

sanitary toilet facilities 17.62% 15.69%

57
Anyway, while the households that specified that their main need is a Bathroom are 5%, those
that said to have no toilet facilities are only 1.21%. So, probably, the mentioned problem is not
so much an infrastructure problem, but rather a housing problem.

Finally, when specifying issues of their special interest most of them gave a higher mark (from
0 to 10) to infrastructure issues above social problems:

Table 34 Issues of special interest

* From 0 to 5% of the households refused to answer or did not know

** From 5 to 10% of the households refused to answer or did not know

Among the other issues mentioned by neighbors in Tandil stands out Crime (2.5%), Education
and Streets (0.5% each). In Urundel, stand out Safety (2.7%) and Work (1.8%).

4.9. Family planning

Regarding the use of contraceptive methods, 40% and 39% respectively in Tandil and Urundel
recognized the use of contraceptive methods. In Tandil there was a high proportion of refusals
to this answer (22%), while in Urundel the option of refusing was not given explicitly, so
probably many of the ones that did not wanted to talk about the subject, just answered No.

Graph 24 - Use of contraceptive methods - Tandil

REF
22%
No
35%

DK
Yes 3%
40%

58
 Graph 25 - Use of contraceptive methods - Urundel

Yes
39%

No
59%

DK
2%

Following, we seek in the kind of contraceptive method used. In Tandil, the most widely used
method are the pills (58%), the barrier method (27%), and the vasectomy or tubal ligation
(9%), while in Urundel, the most used methods are the barrier method (48%), the pills (37%)
and injection (7%).

Graph 26 - Kind of contraceptive method - Tandil

REF

Other

Injection

DK

Vasectomy or tubal ligation

Barrier method (preservative, cap, IUD)

Standard days method

Pills

0 100 200 300 400 500

59
 Graph 27 - Kind of contraceptive method - Urundel

Injection

Vasectomy or tubal ligation

Barrier method (preservative, cap, IUD)

Standard days method

Pills

0 20 40 60 80 100

4.8. Elderly

When we analyze social and medical coverage of elderly, in Tandil a great part of the
population 65 years old or older receives a pension (88%) while in Urundel is lower but yet
important (48%). In this part is important to mention that in the last decade many non-
contributory pensions to elderly were granted15.

Graph 28 Pensions Tandil and Urundel

NoDK/REF DK/REF
2% 10% 14%
No
8%

Yes
Yes
78%
88%

Regarding medical assistance, both in Tandil and Urundel, 75% of the elderly are covered.

15
Two million and a half approximately. See for example: http://www.clarin.com/politica/Gobierno-
ampliaria-regimen-jubilarse-aportes_0_464953519.html

60
 Graph 29 - Medical assistance and providing institution - Tandil

Neighborhood
Health Center
3%
Other
Private 1%
DK/REF Establishment
DK/REF
10% 38%
1%
Yes
No 75% Public
15% Hospital
32%

Graph 30 - Medical assistance and providing institution - Urundel

Neighborhood
Health Center Other
2% 0% DK/REF
1%

DK/REF
14% Private
Yes Establishment
75% 29% Public
No
Hospital
11%
43%

4.10. Disabled members

While in Tandil, 3.7% of the people were reported as disabled (11.7% of the households have
at least a disabled member), in Urundel the percentage reaches 2.9% (11.7% of the households
have at least a disabled member).

Regarding the kind of disability, here are presented the relative amounts:

61
 Table 35 - Disabilities - Tandil and Urundel

Kind of disability* Tandil Urundel

Total blindness 2.26% 3.66%
Partial blindness 3.40% 4.88%
Low vision 5.66% 6.10%
Totally Deaf 1.51% 7.32%
Partially Deaf 3.02% 2.44%
Hearing difficulties 2.26% 3.66%
Speaking problems 1.89% 7.32%
One hand 1.51% 2.44%
No hands 0.00% 1.22%
One leg 7.17% 2.44%
No legs 0.38% 0.00%
Mild (Regular) cerebral palsy 2.26% 6.10%
Severe cerebral palsy 1.13% 4.88%
Regularly mentally handicapped 10.19% 8.54%
Severely mentally handicapped 1.89% 4.88%
Regularly affected by a mental disease 4.53% 6.10%
Severely affected by a mental disease 5.66% 8.54%
Regularly multiple impaired 6.04% 1.22%
Severely multiple impaired 4.15% 0.00%
Others 33.96% 17.07%
*Percentages as a proportion of those identified as disabled

The percentages higher than 5% and 10% were highlighted. In none of the places surveyed is a
kind of disability named in Others worthy to mention (this is, with a percentage higher than
5%).

The cause of disability was declared to be, in most of cases, In-born:

Graph 31 - Cause of the disability Tandil and Urundel

4% 2% Urundel
7%
6%
8% In-born
16% 7% Tandil 40% Illness
49% Accident
16% Old Age
Others
23% DK/REF
22%

62
 In Tandil, one third of those who mentioned Others, expressed that the cause was By/in work

Regarding the aid received for the disability, the most frequent answers were:

Table 36 - Aid received for the disability Tandil

Kind of aid Percentage

Do not know/refuse to answer 31.3%
Pension 20.0%
None 18.9%
Medical treatment 8.7%
Medication 7.2%

Table 37 - Aid received for the disability Tandil

Kind of aid Percentage

None 47.6%
Pension 28.0%
Medical treatment 9.8%
Do not know/refuse to answer 8.5%

It is probable that the tendency for both cities is similar: Tandil has a high percentage of people
that did not want or refused to answer, but that happens probably because the enumerators
from Tandil were not instructed to put None, when the family members expressed that have
not received any aid at all, and instead they left the spaces blank.

From those who received any kind of aid, the majority stated that it comes from the
government:

Graph 32 - Institution that provides the aid - Tandil and Urundel

9% Urundel
Government
2%
0%
7% 20%
Tandil NGO (non-government
0%
agency)
0%
4%
Others
12% 62%
Health insurance
2%

82% Employer

63
 5. Summary of research findings

We find many similarities between the Northern Tandil and Urundel. The ranking of priorities
are consistent and similar.

Regarding the general contrast of both cities, Tandil shows in general a higher socio-economic
development of their society, with an older more-migrant population, higher levels of
employment, better education indicators, higher use of contraceptive methods together with
less younger mothers and higher level of connectivity.

In both of the surveyed areas the population seems to be optimist about the course of the
socioeconomic situation and opportunities in the long term, the general access to drinkable
water and electricity is very well spread, as well as the public school.

In some subjects the areas surveyed show similarities also in the problems: deep education
problems and some indicators of deep poverty, such as illiteracy, hunger and housing
problems.

Respondents in both places feel that policy actions have to go stronger to general
infrastructure issues than social problems, such as drugs, alcohol and family violence. In the
Urundel validation meeting with local leaders, they explain us that many people tend to see
the latter as personal problems rather than social problems where government policy can be
addressed to. On the other hand, people recognize in the government the obligation to
provide infrastructure (including social infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals).

In Tandil, the relatively low level of unemployment, combined with the high rates of informal
job and the wide spread of social assistance, appears to confirm the impressions left by some
of the community leaders in the validation meeting of a lack of incentive to promote legal
work, and on the contrary, a sort of collusion between employers and workers, in order to
allow the latter to continue receiving the social assistance (especially the Universal Subsidy per
Child) for their condition of unemployed.

The needs expressed in Tandil are very diffuse and do not show a central problem, but some
housing issues arise.

In the case of Urundel, the needs of housing expressed by the respondents are higher, even
though housing conditions are better in this city than Tandil. In Urundel people stress jobs
problems, what matches with the harsh conditions in their labor market. This difference
seems to respond to two very different economic situations in both cities, Tandil is a growing
city, attracting migrants, Urundel is a small rural town, where emigration in the past has been
important.

64
 6. Policy Recommendations

Argentina has relatively high levels of poverty even after 10 years of strong economic growth.
Income distribution is very unequal. Poverty is related to the fortunes of the labor market,
since most of argentine population lives in urban areas. In terms of income distribution, one of
the most important factors is explaining it is education and the quality of education. The
distribution of public goods and services is very unequal too.

In our study we find that people complain more about the access and quality of public services
and public goods than education, health or the labor market. But the situation, what people
demand, is different in each case. In Tandil, 50% of the population chooses infrastructure
related problems as the most important problem in their neighborhood. Some of these
problems are lacked of paved street, lack of water and sewerage services, lack of electricity,
loose animals (dogs and horses) and lack of cleaning and rats. The second most important
problem is safety. In Urundel, on the other hand, the most important problem is safety
followed by health and education. Housing and unemployment, problems that did not emerge
in Tandil, where chosen by 12.8% of the population.

Table. Most important problem in your neighborhood

Tandil Urundel
Infrastructure 45.80 8.75
Safety 34.76 37.25
Health 2.11 23.83
Education 2.78 13.57
Unemployment 0.00 9.58
Housing 0.00 3.24
None 7.15 0.00
Others 7.40 3.78

This shows some heterogeneity in the problems, and reinforces the importance of having a
tool like CBMS to capture the needs at the local level.

It is also interesting how the perception of individuals might show a different diagnostic. For
instance, Argentina has a clear problem with the quality of education. In PISA 2009 it obtained
an average score quite below the expected one according to its income level, and it is the
country with the highest inequality in the quality of education in the world (Auguste et al
2008)16. But when we asked them to grade the education of their school in a scale from 0 to 10
the average score was 9.05 and 8.05 in Tandil and Urundel respectively (with a standard
deviation of 2.42 and 1.42 respectively). Interesting enough, when we see the score to their
education open it by whether they are current students or not, to capture the trend in
education, we do not find any significant difference. This perception goes against the finding in

16
Auguste S., Echart, M and Franchetti F. 2008. The Quality of Education in Argentina, RES-BID.

65
Auguste et al that the quality of education in Argentina has deteriorated a lot in the last 40
years.

We find that people in Urundel perceive themselves as poorer than in Northern Tandil. In
Urundel, 54% of the people consider their own family as poor, in Northern Tandil 61%
consider their own family as middle class. Nevertheless, the housing and nutrition is better in
Urundel although the labor market conditions are much poorer, with very high unemployment
rates.

This brief diagnostic gives intuition of what would be the main policy actions, and how
different this could be across cities. In Urundel the main problem is lack of dynamism in the
labor market, in a small rural town that has been expulsing population. In Tandil, on the other
hand, we studied a poor neighborhood of a small size city that has been growing very fast and
attracting migrants. The problems in this area are mostly related with the lack of
infrastructure, and not with employment.

In this sense, the policies in Urundel would point more to those that can faster development,
entrepreneurship and productivity, whereas in Tandil the importance is more on providing
infrastructure. The maps we have done show very precisely the division of geographical areas
where the access to infrastructure is limited, from those where every neighbor have proper
access. This can be used by municipal authorities to check whether their plains are accurate
and, specially, to raise awareness of a situation that, assumed as normal, can fall into oblivion.

66
Annex 1 Measures of nutrition

With the gender, date of birth, height and weight, we were able to obtain the Body Mass Index
(BMI). The BMI is a simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used to classify
underweight, overweight and obesity. It is defined as the weight in kilograms divided by the
square of the height in meters (kg/m2):

Equation 1 - Body mass index

In adults, values are age-independent and the same for both sexes, but in the case of children
0-5 years old, the WHO (World Health Organization) established two charts (one for boys and
one for girls), where at a certain age a particular value of BMI is given:

67
Graph 33 - BMI-for-age BOYS (World Health Organization)

Graph 34 - BMI-for-age GIRLS (World Health Organization)

68
Green lines represent the ideal BMI. The other colored lines allow the analyst to see how far a
BMI-for-age measure from the ideal standard is. The numbers 3, 2, 1, -1, -2 and -3 (Z-scores)
expresses the amount of distance measured in Standard deviations that a particular sample is
from the ideal standard.

Despite the general and spread use of these measures, it is important to point out that small
differences can emerge due to the difference existing on the body complexion of different
ethnical groups.

Besides, and more important, the data of the weight and height of the children surveyed is not
as reliable as we would wish, because enumerators only asked childrens physical
characteristics to the elder residents of the households. There was not any procedure to check
the information given by the member of the household that answered the questionnaire (such
as taking personally the height and weight).

Also, many of the people surveyed, as they did not know some of the weights or heights, were
not able to provide this information: From the 511 children aged 0-3 years surveyed in Tandil,
there was data available to calculate the BMI-for-age indicator for 169 of them (33%). From
the 265 children aged 0-3 years surveyed in Salta, there was data available to calculate the
BMI-for-age indicator for 103 of them (39%).

Regarding those households that answered about the weight/height of the children, probably
there is a self-selection bias: individuals select themselves into a group, causing a biased
sample with non-probability sampling. To see why this may happen, it appear reasonable to
think that those parents/tutors that keep track of their children weight and height are also
those that do the most to control their children physical status.

Having into account all the problems that may emerge with the BMI measures, we still
considered relevant to prepare this information, not only because it can, despite of the
troubles, show a view of the issue, but especially in order to reflect on it what can be done in
future opportunities to improve the amount of positive answers and its accuracy and how to
show this information in the most friendly way.

69
Annex 2 Additional sources of income and
access to programs

Table 38 - Additional sources of income - Tandil

During the last twelve months, did you or a member of your family received from third
parties that do not live in the house
Rent/house Other Food in community
exp. expenses Food dinning hall Clothes
Person or institution 3.55% 2.83% 4.80% 2.26% 2.16%
Public institution 3.55% 2.35% 5.38% 2.21% 1.68%
NGO 1.34% 1.15% 1.20% 1.30% 1.34%
Labor union 1.30% 1.20% 1.20% 1.20% 1.20%
Relatives 3.65% 4.70% 3.36% 1.54% 2.83%
Other 1.44% 1.63% 1.54% 1.15% 1.87%
The aid from relatives was not considered Social assistance

Table 39 - Access to programs - Tandil

During the last twelve months, did you or a member of your

family received or used any of the following programs?
Universal Subsidy per Child program?" 22.76%
Non-contributory pension? 10.75%
Working or training program? 2.02%
Feeding program? 8.59%
School program? 0.58%
Housing program? 0.24%
Health assistance program? 1.25%
Other program 0.10%

70
Table 40 - Additional sources of income - Urundel

During the last twelve months, did you or a member of your family received from third
parties that do not live in the house
Rent/house Other Food in communitary
exp. expenses Food dinning hall Clothes
Person or institution 2.26% 1.96% 2.26% 1.96% 1.81%
Public institution 1.81% 2.87% 2.71% 1.36% 1.21%
NGO 0.45% 0.45% 0.45% 0.45% 0.75%
Labor union 0.90% 0.45% 0.45% 0.45% 0.90%
Relatives 3.92% 7.24% 5.43% 1.21% 2.87%
Other 0.60% 0.60% 0.75% 0.60% 0.75%
* The aid from relatives was not considered Social assistance

Table 41 - Access to programs - Urundel

During the last twelve months, did you or a member of your

family received or used any of the following programs?
Universal Subsidy per Child program?" 19.31%
Homemade bread program? 9.05%
Housing program? 8.75%
Non-contributory pension? 10.71%
Provincial feeding program? 29.86%

71
Annex 3 Health problems

Recent health problems

921 (13%) and 200 (7%) of the surveyed people in Tandil and Urundel respectively had
received medical treatment in the 30 days previous to the survey.

From them, in Tandil the institutions where the affected people concurred pretty much
matches with the places stated in Table 16 - Medical attention, in the Health section, but in the
case of Urundel, the most of the affected people turned to a private consultation (having
stated that the main place they go when they have health problems is the public hospital). This
may happen because they see the public hospital as a place to go when emergencies occur,
but they go to private medic consultation for non-urgent treatments.

Table 42 Institutions attended for recent treatments

Tandil Urundel
Neighborhood health center 143 15.5% 12 6.0%
Public hospital 346 37.6% 3 1.5%
Health Insurance 71 7.7% 0 0.0%
Private hospital 136 14.8% 4 2.0%
Private consultation 209 22.7% 101 50.5%
Unprepared person 1 0.1% 28 14.0%
Other 5 0.5% 35 17.5%
DK/REF 10 1.1% 17 8.5%

921 100% 200 100%

The results in Table 43 summarize answers given when the respondent was asked who
covered the expenditures of the recent treatments.

Table 43 - Coverage of expenditures of recent treatments- Tandil and Urundel

Tandil Urundel
Public hospital or health Center 294 31.9% 54 27.0%
Public or union health insurance 299 32.5% 38 19.0%
Private insurance 154 16.7% 28 14.0%
Yourself 158 17.2% 77 38.5%
Other 4 0.4% 3 1.5%

72
DK/REF 12 1.3% 0 0.0%

921 100% 200 100%

Chronic diseases

When we focus on chronic diseases, 941 (13%) and 182 (6%) of the surveyed people in Tandil
and Urundel respectively were affected by them. In the following graphics we show their
affections:

Graph 35 - Chronic diseases - Tandil

300

250
People affected

200

150

100

50

Graph 36 - Chronic diseases - Urundel

45
40
35
People affected

30
25
20
15
10
5
0

*Tropical parasite disease

73
The wide variety of chronic diseases made us to group those diseases with less than 2% of the
affected in Other - 30% in Tandil and 22% in Urundel. The most common affections are
hypertension, respiratory diseases, diabetes, heart diseases, osteoarthritis and arthritis.

In Table 44 - Coverage of expenditures of recent treatments- Tandil and Urundel we can see
who covered their treatments.

Table 44 - Coverage of expenditures of recent treatments- Tandil and Urundel

Tandil Urundel
Public hospital or health Center 264 28.1% 34 18.7%
Public or union health insurance 299 31.8% 39 21.4%
Private insurance 148 15.7% 26 14.3%
Yourself 198 21.0% 70 38.5%
Other 16 1.7% 3 1.7%
DK/REF 16 1.7% 10 5.5%

941 100% 182 100%

74