Entitlements are based on citizenship and are conferred as rights, with a minimum of discretionary authority on the part of the agencies concerned, but the entitlements are also linked to corresponding obligations (Filgueira et al., This principle has shaped a number of new initiatives, such as a universal child allowance in Argentina, a universal old-age pension in Bolivia, and an old-age pension, and disability, sickness and maternity benefits in Brazil (ILO, 2010 and 2012). There is also evidence that democratization and the abandonment of clientelism have improved the incidence of social expenditure (Lopez-Calva and Lustig, 2010). Such tax-financed programmes can have a stronger inequality reducing effect than social insurance schemes, even if unit transfers are relatively small (Skoufias, Lindert and Shapiro, 2010, Goni, Lopez and Serven, 2011).