Much attention is given in the literature to the evolution of social indicators during periods of structural adjustment and economic reform. This paper argues that these processes are not distribution-neutral from the point of view of basic needs fulfilment and that hence the focus should not be on aggregate indicators but on the distribution of beneficiaries of social services, and changes in this distribution. Evidence is presented for Côte d'Ivoire during the second half of the 1980s--a period of intense structural change--which shows that the poorest absorbed the bulk of the decline in basic needs fulfilment as a result of structural change. This was the case for almost all aspects of basic needs and occurred regardless of the overall trend in the social indicators.