Indigentes urbanos: entre la estigmatización y la exclusión social en la ciudad de Buenos Aires/Urban Indigents: Between Stigma and Social Exclusion in the City of Buenos Aires

The paper characterizes the social exclusion that affects individuals suffering extreme poverty in Buenos Aires. The article consists of two sections. First, it summarizes some relevant aspects of the literature on social exclusion and the functioning of the labor market in the recent past in Argentina. Second, it presents the results of the fieldwork completed by the authors. The research was based on a survey of 190 adult males living in homeless shelters in the City of Buenos Aires. The goal of the investigation was to record their perceptions regarding labor opportunities and to identify the factors that might influence their inclusion into/exclusion from economic activities, including the role of educational credentials. We found that the vast majority of respondents exhibited work trajectories characterized by alternating unemployment, unstable jobs, and inactivity. That pattern seems to be insensitive to economic cycles. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]