In a country with an economy that has been growing substantially over recent years, why is it that the rich keep getting richer and the poorest 20% keep slipping further below the poverty line?! This has been a discussion topic for the countries leaders for many years, yet nothing has been done to combat it.

It is said that there are certain causes that need to be addressed soon in order to stop the gap from widening further, and plunging even more people into poverty. These include a tax system that highly favors the rich Costa Ricans, a heavy reliance on the export sector, very poor organization within government aid programs.

Suggestions have been made that could help to shake up the countries financial structuring, and help the poor to close the gap on the richer population. These suggestions include a total organistional shake up of many government departments, computerizing all information, allowing for a much more efficient analysis and to pin point those that need help etc. Also a restructuring of the banking system has been mentioned, to allow small business loans to become easier to access, and therefore allow more people to start their own businesses, in the hope that these will survive and inject some much needed cash into the poorer sector of Costa Ricas Economy. An overhaul of the countries tax system has been proposed, and nearly went through, but was cancelled due to procedural errors. It is said that the Rich are not taxed enough and the poor too much, with some people blaming poor tax collection rates for the lack of money to help the poor in the form of government aid.

Another large factor is said to be the ever increasing tourism industry. Why is this bad for the country I hear you say? Well this is bad as the majority of the tourism, is owned and run by large foreign investment companies, or the already rich and well educated Costa Ricans. It is also true that the larger, foreign owned resorts are more likely to import products for their guests, rather than using local products, as well as bringing in management from other areas rather than using locals. This however does have its reasoning behind it. With the poor education system in the country, many local people in these high tourist areas do not have the knowledge needed to run these resorts.

So it could be said that if the government were to make sure that everyone was afforded a high level or education, with further education made easier to access for the poorer families, more of the population would have the knowledge, to get out and get those higher paid jobs, rather than foreigners coming in to do these jobs.