on lengthy and heated debates, some manipulation, and a varied social dialogue approach. 2. Coverage Coverage was measured by household surveys, which are conducted uni­formly in all countries, based on contributing insured, and considered the most accurate method. In contradiction to what reformers promised, eco­nomically active population(EAP) coverage dropped in all private systems after the reform started; then, it grew. However, in the five less socially-devel ­oped countries, it only covers 21% to 38% of the EAP(ILO minimum standard states a minimum coverage of 50%) and it is very difficult to be extended. Reformers made no promises on the older-adult population(65 years and over) coverage by contributory and non-contributory pensions. Such coverage increased in all countries, mainly owing to the extension of non-contributory pensions by the state—still five private systems are below the adult-coverage average of 71% for the entire region, including public systems(one private sys­tem lacks non-contributory pensions and the coverage of another system has stagnated). The analysis determining whether the private system has had any impact on coverage was negative, as no difference was found when comparing it with the coverage of public systems, particularly regarding older-adult pop­ulation; the level of economic development of the countries is what seems to determine coverage. Today, supporters of structural reform are trying to justify EAP’s low coverage by arguing that this is not a problem of the private system but of an exogenous factor: labor force informality; although reformers predicted that the reform would extend formalization. It was shown that the design of the reform was a factor in the low coverage since the private system has been unable to face the exogenous obstacle. On the contrary, the analysis of groups that are difficult to incorporate—most of them informal groups(self-employed workers, domes­tic-service employees, employees of micro-enterprises, and agricultural work­ers)—indicated that many countries have developed successful public policies 182