Latin America. As an operational concept applied in the Western countries, it finds a specific applicability in the subcontinent, taking into account the format of several welfare mixes. In this way, it is intended to evaluate the bibliography that applies this concept to the Latin American case, contrasting it with the generalization of the concept of Social State, but also specifying its relevant differences with the literature on welfare regimes in the “south”. Finally, it is considered that both structural inequalities, and the axes “informality-formality” and “productivism-protectionism” are relevant in the definition of the various Latin American welfare regimes.