On October 2, 2008, the World Bank issued a report on how personal circumstances (race, gender, birthplace, a parent's educational level and their father's occupation) in Latin America affect children's access to running water, sanitation, electricity and basic education.  The World Bank report concluded that between one fourth and one half of income inequality in Latin America arises due to such factors.

In writing the report, the World Bank developed a new tool, the Human Opportunity Index (HOI) to measure whether children have access to the basic services needed for success in later life.  The HOI for education includes two indicators: completion of sixth grade on time and school attendance for ages 10-14. The HOI for housing includes three indicators: access to water, sanitation, and electricity. 

Using data representing some 200 million children and spanning the years 1995-2005, the researchers constructed a Human Opportunity Index for the 19 largest Latin American countries. The index ranges from 0 (total deprivation) to 100 (universality) for each of the education and housing indicators. 

After comparing the HOI scores to the personal circumstances (race, gender, etc.) of children in Latin America, the researchers determined that:

Between a quarter (Colombia) and half (Guatemala) of the income inequality that we observe among adults in Latin America is due to the circumstances they faced when they started out in life-at the very outset, through no fault of their own. And while their race, sex, and location all played a role, no circumstances were more powerful than their mothers' education and their fathers' incomes. In other words, Latinos are right to feel that they are condemned by a playing field that is not level-it is not.

In releasing the report, Pamela Cox, World Bank Vice-president for Latin America and the Caribbean:

 Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the most unequal regions in the world,  where  the richest 10 percent of the population captures 40 percent of total  income, while the poorest 10 percent receives a mere 1 percent. To a large extent, this can be attributed to the fact that not everybody has the same opportunities.  This has to change. The HOI is a new tool that will help governments assign budget allocations more efficiently, and generate opportunities for all.

The researchers concluded, based on their findings, that:

Early life interventions, from pregnancy monitoring and institutional births to toddlers' nutrition and neurological development, get a new sense of priority. So do preschool access (such as pre-kindergarten social interaction) and primary school achievement (such as reading and thinking ability). The physical security, reproductive education, mentoring, and talent screening of adolescents, all areas that are often overlooked, gain new relevance.

For the combined HOI (education and housing), Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Venezuela were ranked closest to universality. Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua were farthest from that target, both because of low coverage and because the existing coverage was not equitably distributed.

The HOI Index and its findings will be of interest to organizations working to improve economic and social conditions in Latin America. USAID alone spends $390 million a year on social programs in Latin America and the Caribbean, including programs to improve access to education, health care, drinking water and sanitation services.

The researchers hope to apply the HOI index to other region of the world, but the report emphasizes that "producing a methodology to measure human opportunity, and applying it across countries in one region, is just a first step...technical discussions and scientific vetting will continue and refinements will surely follow."