¿Acceden al subsidio por desempleo los asalariados rurales en Uruguay? Análisis de la situación actual y simulación de esquemas alternativos

Concerning rural labor, Uruguay is a special case in the region since the level of coverage of social security for rural workers is high (above 70%), while they have some benefits that are typically not found for these workers, such as a specific unemployment allowance. In this work, using administrative records of employment histories available between 1997 and 2009, the effective access of rural workers to the unemployment insurance scheme is analyzed and the access to two alternative systems is simulated. Results show that in the current system the level of coverage of the insurance for rural workers facing unemployment is low (46.5%) and that the general system of unemployment insurance applied for the rest of formal employees would have a coverage 15% higher if it is applied to rural workers. However, in none of the scenarios presented the coverage of the unemployment insurance exceeds 70%. This would indicate that there are special conditions of the contributions structure and the duration of employment periods of these workers that do not allow them to complete the requirements to access the right to the unemployment insurance. Therefore, additional policies would be required.